Head Over Hoof
by AnglcDmn1986
Summary: Elena Gilbert expected the horses and the possibility of becoming friends with her roommate when Katherine Pierce told her she's the Equestrian Club president... She just never expected how close she would become to Damon Salvatore and his horse. AU/AH
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own The Vampire Diaries. It belongs to the CW and blah blah blah (I've been writing fanfiction for twelve years-I think, goddess don't even know anymore since I suck at math anyway-and I have never made a dime from it). The story line, however, is mine, and I will send blood thirsty, unneutered bunnies (UTTER TERRORS) after you if you try to be a thief (in all seriousness, plagiarism is a crime and all of my au/ah stories have the potential to turn into something I will publish later). **

I have been working on this new AU/AH for the past month and I wasn't going to post it until I was finished, but _most _of you have probably realized by now that my muse has been on-I don't know-a creative rampage? _Then _I wasn't going to post it until Saturday but I've been DYING to post it since I finished the prologue, so here it is. I _plan _to update on Saturdays, I've got four chapters of this finished.

Much, much love to Kate (thisismyescape) for betaing/acting as a soundboard while I was making a half-assed outline, and to Cher Sue for pre-reading.

**_I have to give a trigger warning because this story involves an open relationship_. **

* * *

Prologue

Blue Moon scuffed the dirt with his front hoof in protest as Elena tightened the straps of his bridle. "Calm down," Elena said soothingly. "You're okay."

"You don't look good," Katherine commented, watching her from her leaned position against the stall door. "Are you sure you want to barrel race today?"

Katherine was Elena's roommate at Whitmore College. Katherine was a junior while Elena was a freshman. That morning, Elena had complained of a headache and she'd mentioned feeling nauseous. Katherine caught her popping three Advil pills into her mouth before they went to the stables.

"I told you I'll be fine. I probably just feel crappy because I've quit drinking soda," Elena said with a deep sigh.

"Let me rephrase that a little bit," Katherine said with a sarcastic tone, pointing to the horse. "Are you sure you should be practicing around the barrels on _that _horse when you aren't feeling good?

"He's been a lot calmer lately," Elena shrugged. She nodded in the direction of Rhiannon, who was tied to a post next to Katherine by her reins. The chestnut Thoroughbred laid one ear back as she sniffed Blue Moon. "I can't ride your horse. She takes off so fast around the barrels I think I'd lose grip of the reins."

Elena looked at Blue Moon. He was a black Paint with a splotch of white on his right shoulder. The gelding nudged her hand and he chewed his bit. "Don't you be sarcastic to me," she said firmly as she lightly pushed the horse away from her. "You know what happens when you get fresh."

"He won't get any carrot's or sugar cubes."

Elena's heart sped up when she heard a velvety voice float through the air. She turned to look at Damon Salvatore, the stable owner's son and Katherine's boyfriend. She hadn't spoken to him the entire weekend because she had gone home to see her aunt and brother, and she had missed him. An uncomfortable empty feeling raged inside Elena's stomach as she watched Katherine pull Damon to her for a kiss.

She sucked in a breath and refused to give that feeling a real name.

Katherine and Damon were in an open relationship. Elena was very aware of the fact the first time she slept with Damon, and he had strict rules set in place with Katherine to make their relationship work. Elena never bothered to ask what all those rules entailed, and Damon never bothered to tell her, so things worked the way they were. She looked away as soon as Katherine's hand dipped into Damon's back pocket, no doubt squeezing his ass in a move she didn't want to see.

"Hear that, boy?" Elena asked the horse, clearing her throat. "You won't get any treats if you keep sassing me. Damon's word is law in this pasture."

She brushed Blue Moon's forelock. He'd gotten his name from his bright blue eyes and they glaringly reminded her of Damon's. Elena smiled in triumph as the horse behaved; she was sure the threat of no treats would calm his tendency to be rude until he lifted his upper lip at her.

"You're full of more nonsense than your owner," Elena huffed.

"I heard that," Damon sang, flashing his eyes at her in a way that simultaneously made her blood boil and butterflies erupt in her stomach.

"Elijah is calling," Katherine said as she stared down at her cell phone. She reached up once more to kiss Damon's lips and Elena gripped Blue Moon's reins tighter than necessary. He laid his ears flat and pawed the ground. "Rhiannon is good to go," She added. "You should take Blue around the barrels for a test run, Elena. I'll wait to take Rhiannon." With that, Katherine walked away and left Elena and Damon alone. She turned to look at him and saw his jaw clenched tight before he swallowed, cleared his throat, and grabbed the brush from Elena's hand and brushed the horse's mane.

"Why do you keep letting her do that to you?" Elena finally asked after a few minutes, watching him carefully.

"Keep letting her do _what_?" Damon asked as he faced her. It was clear he was irritated from Katherine's reason for fleeing.

She thought about her words, deciding it was best to just come out with it. After such little interaction with him since they got together a few weeks ago, she figured she would spare them both by making her suggestion. "I'd understand if you want to ask her to go back to being in an exclusive—"

Elena was surprised by the way his mouth parted in surprise. Blue Moon snorted and backed away when Damon suddenly pulled her to him and sealed his mouth over hers. He pulled her closer, causing her to drop the reins and relax into his arms.

"I was the one who asked her to be in an open relationship," Damon said, laughing shortly, still holding her against him. "She simply agreed. I just…"

"You're getting more jealous of her and Elijah than she is of us, I know." Elena reached up and kissed him again, stroking his cheek before Blue Moon huffed. She looked over at the horse and jerked her head in his direction. "I, um, better get to practicing."

Damon frowned, not letting her go when she tried to pull away from him. "Did you double check the cinch after you put it on? He likes to hold his breath. Don't pull on the reins too much and make sure—"

Elena burst into giggles as she pried herself away from Damon. "I know how to ride, Damon. I know all his tricks. I'll be careful, we've been working with Blue for a couple months; I think he's as ready as I am."

They both looked at the horse that was grabbing a bit of grass from the ground and happily swishing his tail back and forth.

"Come here, boy," Elena said as she took his reins back, and in turn pulling his face from the ground. "I promise we'll let you graze till your heart's desire, _after _we run the barrels."

As Elena adjusted her purple sweater sleeves and grabbed onto the saddle, she thought about how far Blue Moon had come along as far as not nipping and the amount of weight he gained. He was a rescue who had been barrel raced in the past. Damon had spent months trying to gain the horse's trust before she met them, but it had only taken Elena an apple slice and a gentle hand to win him over. Damon and Katherine had been trying to get her to barrel race for a few weeks when they found out from her aunt that she competed in more than just jumping, and Blue Moon wanted nothing to do with Katherine. It was because Blue Moon trusted Elena that she was going to practice with him for the first time.

"Are you okay?" Damon asked, placing his hand over Elena's hand on the horn of the saddle, stopping her from mounting. Elena looked at him, and he seemed to be searching her gaze for any sense of falsehood. "Katherine told me you needed more headache medicine today."

Elena huffed and Blue Moon's ears went flat again. Katherine needed to butt out of her life. They were roommates, and friends, but blabbing to anyone who would listen was going to get old quick. "I'm fine. You both have to stop worrying about me. You're worse than Aunt Jenna, Bonnie, and Caroline."

Damon's eyebrows pulled together as he said, "I just don't think it's a good idea to ride if you aren't feeling good."

Elena sighed and placed her other hand over Damon's. "I promise I'll be okay." She reached up to kiss him once more, and enjoyed the feeling of their lips joined. Blue Moon snorted in protest and the both of them laughed. Elena pulled her hands from Damon's and finally mounted the horse.

"You treat her right, you hear me?" Damon said to the horse. "I'm not above knocking you in the face yet."

Elena rolled her eyes. "You always make that threat to him and it still isn't funny."

With that, she guided the horse into the ring and began their test ride. She noticed Katherine return, walking up to Damon and bracing her arms on the fence. Elena turned her attention back to riding as she cautiously brought Blue Moon into a trot around the first two barrels. He went around them fine with no problems whatsoever. Feeling confident, Elena slowly urged him to go faster, and found she had missed barrel racing more than she thought. She loved jumping Applejax but as Blue Moon increased his speed around the barrels, she realized this is what she was meant to do with horses.

Damon had one of his arms wrapped around Katherine as they watched her, and Elena made the mistake of looking back at them and not watching the direction she pulled the reins when Blue galloped to the second barrel. He galloped so fast her heart raced and she yanked on his reins in a panic.

She shrieked as Blue suddenly rose on his hind legs and she lost hold of the reins sent her violently to the ground.

* * *

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	2. Chapter One

All righty. Still at the guy's place but we're watching a documentary and I decided it wouldn't hurt to post the first real chapter to HOH. :D

Thank you very much to Kate (thisismyescape) for the beta, and Cher Sue for the preread. Kate has been invaluable to HOH since she listens to my crazy plot ideas.

—

Chapter One

"Are you sure you don't want to live at home?"

Elena Gilbert clutched her laptop case to her chest as tight as she could. She was crammed into the cab of Matt Donovan's truck, a friend from back home who had been kind enough to lend the vehicle to Elena and her Aunt Jenna so they could move her things to Whitmore College. Her brother, Jeremy, was at home because he had to work a shift at The Mystic Grill. The college had a policy where new students weren't permitted to have their cars their first year if they lived on campus. It sucked, but Elena could deal. Gas prices were too expensive nowadays, anyway.

"I'm sure, Jenna," Elena said as the truck turned a corner. She rolled her eyes as dramatically as she could. "You'd think I was moving to the other side of the country, not two hours away from home."

Jenna parked the truck as close as she could to Stevenson Hall, the dorm Elena had been assigned to. The move was easy enough because Elena didn't have much to bring with her. Over the summer she found out she would be placed with an older student—a junior—rather than another freshman. Usually freshmen weren't placed with older students, but Elena learned from the few short conversations she had with her roommate through their school e-mail that another dormitory had been closed for renovations and she had been asked if she would open up her room for another student to live with her for at least one semester. Elena didn't need things like a microwave and she had managed to convince her best friend, Caroline, she didn't need to bring her entire wardrobe with her to school.

"I can't help it," Jenna said. "I dropped out of the University of Pennsylvania three years ago to move home to take care of the two of you soon as your parents died." Jenna removed the key from the truck ignition and then took Elena's hand. "I love you, and even though it wasn't always easy, I kind of got used to having you around all the time."

"You act like I'll never see you since I'm moving away from home," Elena sniffed and placed the laptop bag on the dashboard. She quickly wiped at a few tears. "You need to stop. You're going to make me sob all over the place."

Elena took her seat belt off and pulled Jenna into a hug.

"I don't like the fact that you chose a school where you can't have your car."

"I'll be fine," Elena said. "My roommate said I could use hers if I ever need to go somewhere." She had lucked out in that.

"I just want you to be safe," Jenna said. "I was never good at the whole Stern Parent thing your Mom had down, but I remember what it was like to be a crazy college girl." Jenna hugged her back tightly.

Elena laughed. "I'm here to study, not to party." Elena did like going to the occasional party when she was in high school, but she had never been a heavy drinker. That was more of Caroline's thing that she liked to do with her boyfriend, Tyler.

"Yeah, you say that now," Jenna teased. "But wait until you're in the middle of the semester and assignments are piling up so fast that you just _need _a drink."

Elena laughed and picked up her laptop case again. "Are you sure we aren't self-projecting?"

Jenna laughed and opened the driver's door. "You know I'd let you kids drink with me. I'm just asking you to be careful, sweetheart. I don't want your mother haunting me from the grave when you get alcohol poisoning. I worry about you having an older roommate."

"You're just being silly now," Elena said.

Stevenson Hall was an older building with no elevators, and Elena happened to be on the third floor. Jenna puffed out some air hard once they got to the top floor and dropped some of Elena's bags to the ground.

"I am grossly out of shape," Jenna complained.

Elena's lungs burned. "I should have never given up cheerleading," she complained.

"We both need to take it easy on the Hershey's bars," Jenna said.

"You know that's impossible," Elena said. Just as she was about to put the key into the door to her room, 306, it flew opened.

A slender girl about Elena's height at five feet, five inches stood in front of them. She had a bright smile on her face, and her damp hair was held up in a clip. She had on a black tee-shirt and blue jeans.

"Elena Gilbert, right?"

"Yeah," Elena said. "Katherine Peirce?"

Katherine stepped to the side. "Come on in. I'd help you move the rest of your stuff in but I've got to get this dye out of my hair."

Oh, so that was why her hair was up in a clip. Elena looked at Katherine closer and saw a few dots of purple looking dye at the base of her forehead and wondered why she hadn't noticed that at first.

"Oh, that's fine," Jenna said. "You go on and get that stuff out of your hair."

Katherine walked over to one of the closet doors and pulled out a towel and grabbed the box of Nice 'n Easy from her computer desk. "Make yourself at home, Elena. I want to sit down and chat to get to know you better, but we can do that after you get settled in, okay?" She smiled again at Elena and Jenna as she left.

"She seems like a nice girl," Elena said. "I'm kind of glad I ended up with her as a roommate."

"Don't get close with her," Jenna said. "No matter how much you think you might love your roommate, I wouldn't get too close with her. I never did when I was in college."

Elena dropped her suit case onto the empty bed. "Just because you had the roommate with a boyfriend who always showed his butt crack and woke up to them having sex in the middle of the night doesn't mean I'm going to have a bad roommate experience."

Jenna physically shuddered violently. "Good God, don't remind me. I should have never told you that story. You love bringing it up to me every chance you get."

"_You _need to stop trying to scare me into living off campus. Even though I can't have my car, and it sucks, I'm still looking forward to getting out there on my own."

Jenna sighed. "Okay, you win. But how you can stay away from Caroline…"

"Caroline sucks. I'm mad at her because she's still living with her mother."

"Aw," Jenna said. "At least she didn't move to California like she wanted to. I would have taken the chance to flee."

"You _did _flee the state…because of Logan Fell."

"Do not mention he-who-shall-not-be-named," Jenna pointed her finger at Elena sternly.

Jenna stayed another hour or so after she helped Elena bring the rest of her stuff up from the truck, including a bookshelf they had picked up from Lowes Elena still needed to put together. The box sat next to her computer desk now as she unpacked some of her clothes. Jenna wanted to stay longer, but she had to go to work. She was a teacher at Mystic Falls Middle School and even though children didn't start school back for another week, there was still an important meeting she had to go to that she couldn't miss. Katherine finally came back to the room.

"Oh, wow," Elena said. "Love the hair color."

It was a few shades lighter than Elena's own brunette color. Katherine opened her closet and pulled out a pair of boots.

"Are you going somewhere?"

Elena kept what Jenna said in the back of her mind. She didn't know Katherine well and she shouldn't try to get close to her, but she couldn't help but be curious about her.

"I'm heading over to the stables to see my boyfriend. I'm a barrel racer," Katherine said, "and the president of the equestrian club on campus."

"That's awesome," Elena said. "What kind of horse do you ride?"

"She's a Thoroughbred named Rhiannon," Katherine said. "Have you ever ridden?"

"I used to when I was fifteen," Elena said. Images of the horse named Snowflake Elena used to ride flashed through her memory. Her parents had friends who gave Elena riding lessons when she was younger and she hadn't been able to go see them in years. "I haven't been around horses since my parents died."

"Oh…" Katherine frowned, her gaze and tone seemingly sincere. "That's awful. I'm sorry."

"It happened a while ago," Elena said. She put the last pillow case on her pillow and then tossed it onto her bed.

"You know… My boyfriend is working with a new horse," Katherine said. "He was a rescue from the Humane Society about three weeks ago. You could come with me."

Elena had no chance to answer Katherine because her iPhone started to ring. She quickly pulled it from her pocket and looked at it. "Um, could you hold that thought?" she asked. "I need to take this."

"No problem," Katherine said.

Elena shot a grin at her as she sat down on her bed and slid her thumb across the screen of her phone. She didn't know what Jenna was talking about, trying to scare her into living off campus. Katherine seemed like she was a nice girl, and if Elena was honest with herself, the prospect of seeing horses again excited her. She was curious about the rescued horse from the Humane Society too.

"Hey Bonnie!"

"This college campus is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be," Bonnie Bennett said on the other line. "It took me and my dad two hours to find my dorm."

"Jenna has a friend who is a professor here," Elena said, "She already knew where Stevenson Hall is."

"Um, I think Fischer Hall is all the way across campus from you," Bonnie said. "Is your roommate nice?"

Elena looked at Katherine. She had a hair band around her wrist and was braiding brunette hair which fell down a little past the middle of her back.

"Yeah, she's a junior but she's really nice," said Elena. "She's the equestrian club president and asked me if I want to go with her."

"Oh, you can't!" Bonnie said. "There's this mandatory freshmen thing I think."

"Oh…" Elena said.

"Yeah, that was actually why I was calling."

"What is it?" Katherine asked.

"Freshmen residence hall orientation," Elena said. "I totally forgot about it…"

Katherine laughed loudly. "You don't have to go to that silly nonsense," she said. "I'll give you a much better tour of campus later."

"What is your roommate saying?"

Elena bit her lower lip. She really wanted to see Bonnie but she wanted to get to know her roommate at the same time. Would it really be a bad thing if she skipped out on going to something she really didn't want to go to? They would have all semester to spend time together and the thought of being around horses appealed more to Elena than the thought of being in a large crowd of new students she didn't know.

"I don't think I'm going to go," Elena said. "I want to take the chance to get to know Katherine better. Love you Bonnie, I'll talk to you later."

—

Elena felt guilty about blowing Bonnie off but she tried not to think about it. Caroline and Bonnie were her best friends but they never understood how much Elena loved horses. She never talked about it because riding had been a special thing she shared with her mother. The only other person who knew how involved she was in riding when she was younger was her Aunt Jenna.

"So you're the president of the club?" Elena asked Katherine as they walked down a path toward the stables.

"Yep," Katherine said. "I was elected last year. We don't have many members but it's more the love of horses that keep most of us coming back."

"Does the group actually do a lot of showing?"

"There are a few of us who have shown or competed in the past," Katherine said. "Last year we only had twelve members. I compete in barrel races and Rebekah jumps but most of the time we volunteer here. Damon, my boyfriend, helps his mom out. She raises Friesians and Thoroughbreds and they have rescued a Paint and Shetland Pony. A few of the Thoroughbreds have gone on to be derby racers."

"That's really awesome," Elena said.

"Most of the time when we aren't helping take care of the horses we go on trail rides. I'm not sure who is coming back to join the club but some of them didn't know how to ride when they joined. You should think about it, actually."

"I'd love to be able to ride again," Elena said. As they got closer to the stables they walked past and enclosed area by a fence where a few horses were grazing. "Is there anything like club dues?"

Katherine frowned. "I'm trying to decide how I want to price that this year. It was ten dollars last year, with a sixty dollar fee to actually ride the horses. Damon's mom is very reasonable about letting students ride but his father is being an asshole this year about it and wants to charge each time we ride, and he wants to charge more. Damon has been really fighting with him about it. His mother doesn't think we should charge anything as long as the members offer to help take care of the horses. It's a big mess right now. Professor Saltzman is getting pretty pissed too since he's sponsors our club."

"I probably will join," Elena said. "I lost contact with the family friends who used to let me ride and that's one of the reasons I haven't done it in so long. I could pay any dues you decide to charge I need to find a job on campus."

Elena was certain she was meant to ride horses again. The whole thing about deciding what to charge sounded like a lot of unnecessary drama but the fact that Elena was placed with a roommate who was the president of the equestrian club flashed "Ride Again!" in big neon green colors.

Katherine finally stopped at a separate fenced area. The horse inside was the Paint Katherine had mentioned but Elena was far more distracted by the man trying to approach the horse with a rope.

"I know Damon is extremely hot."

Heat rushed to Elena's as she immediately looked away. "I wasn't looking at him. I was looking at the horse."

Katherine smirked. "Sure you weren't."

Elena cleared her throat. "That poor thing." The horse looked too skinny, his hips protruded out more than they should, and his ears were laid flat as Damon approached him with the rope and made him run in another direction. "What is his name?"

"Damon named him Blue Moon because he's got the prettiest blue eyes. He also happened to be drinking the beer the night before. Easy inspiration," Katherine said as she watched Elena's reaction to the horse's physical appearance. She climbed the fence and took a seat there as they both watched Damon try to approach him, "but we just call him Blue. I was surprised when I realized Damon's are almost the exact same color."

Blue kicked up his back legs and nipped at Damon. They watched as he backed off, before moving toward the horse again.

"Believe it or not, he's gained a lot of weight. Hey baby!" She waved.

Damon turned away from Blue, waving back. "Hey!" Elena shifted her attention to Blue Moon when she and Damon locked eye contact. "I'll be with you in a few minutes." Blue took the opportunity to sneak up behind Damon and nip his hair. "Gah, you ass," Damon yelped as he ducked his head and swatted at the horse with the rope. "If you weren't a rescue I'd knock your teeth out."

"He doesn't mean that," Katherine said quickly to Elena before addressing Damon again. "You'll never gain his trust if you treat him that way, baby!" Blue Moon seemed pleased with himself as he trotted away and Elena giggled as Damon grimaced. "Blue's previous owner's main excuse for treating him the way he did was that he acted too aggressive."

"He just looks like a big playful fool," Elena said in shock. "He just seems a little nervous."

Katherine jumped down from the fence when Damon started walking toward them. "We learned that but Blue does have trouble being with other horses."

"Kat, you shouldn't be on this side of the fence," Damon said, but he still came up to her and greeted her with a kiss, resting his hands on her hips. "Blue isn't in the best mood."

The horse laid his ears flat as he cautiously eyed Katherine and Damon, before he nervously pawed at the ground. He seemed to gauge the rope in Damon's hand the most before he nervously came closer to them.

"Have you thought about losing the rope?" Elena asked.

It took a second before Damon's brows pulled together and he turned to look at her. "And who are you?" The question was mean by any means, and he actually looked rather amused.

"This is my new roommate on campus," Katherine explained. She took Damon's hand and led him closer to the fence. "Elena Gilbert, Damon Salvatore."

Elena jumped down and held her hand out. "It's nice to meet you."

"What makes you think he doesn't like the rope?" Damon asked instead, ignoring the gesture. "You two need to get on the other side of the fence."

How rude, Elena thought as she dropped her hand, but refrained from letting Damon's actions offend her. He seemed just as frustrated with the horse as the horse seemed frustrated with him. He probably didn't mean it personally.

Blue seemed interested in the two women, but he edged around Damon and nickered nervously when Damon brushed back some of his hair with the same hand that held the rope. Damon swatted at him again and the horse's nostrils flared as he turned away quickly.

"I've seen that kind of behavior in dogs before," Elena explained. "My friend's mom rescued Mastiffs. They had this dog last year, Moose, who always hated men with hats. He snapped at my friend, Caroline's, ex-boyfriend because he liked to wear hats and they almost thought they wouldn't be able to re-home him until Liz noticed a pattern and told him to stop wearing his caps. I bet if you put the rope down, Blue Moon may calm down a bit."

"You are being mean with the rope," Katherine shrugged when she looked at Damon. "Maybe you should put it down."

"I've been trying to get him to submit all morning," Damon sighed, exhaling heavily. He looked between Blue Moon and Elena for a beat longer than necessary before shrugging and throwing the rope away.

The change in the horse was almost immediate.

Once he realized Damon no longer had the rope, he raised one ear as he seemed to think about the three humans standing near him and slowly walked up to them. Elena giggled when he nudged her shoulder. "Hey, Blue," she smiled before looking at Damon. "Do you mind if I pet him?"

"He seems like he likes you," Damon said. He sounded impressed. "He's not really giving you a choice, is he?"

Blue grabbed Elena's shirt and tugged until she turned to him and softly patted his nose. He sniffed her hand and Elena pushed him back gently.

"You really like to get into people's business, don't you?" Elena asked the horse, though unable to find it in her to feel chagrined.

"I've never seen him do that," Katherine said in shock. "Not in the whole three weeks we've had him."

"Me either."

"He's just a big baby," Elena said. "I knew it the moment I saw him."

"Do you have a lot of experience with horses?" Damon asked.

"I used to ride when I was fifteen but it's been a few years," Elena said, saving the history lesson for another time. "I may decide to join the equestrian club."

"You definitely should," Damon said. Blue looked mildly relaxed, which was a big improvement from where he was before. "Well, we should leave him alone for a little. I want to give him some time to eat more."

"I still think people who abuse animals should be given the death penalty," Katherine said with a scowl. "I'm so happy he's gained some weight back."

"I wouldn't disagree with you, baby," Damon said.

Elena followed Damon and Katherine to the gate. As Damon was closing it, Blue reached over and nipped Damon's hair again.

"Come on," Damon complained. "Leave my hair alone!" He ducked again and quickly closed the gate while both girls burst into giggles.

"I think the three of us should go get some dinner somewhere," Katherine said.

"We could go to a grab a few burgers," Damon said.

"Oh," Elena nervously tucked some hair behind her ears. "I was a total idiot and forgot my wallet."

"My treat, roomie," Katherine said, "So you can go."

"I was a little worried there for a minute," Elena said, nodding her thanks. "You're awesome."

"They have a decent burger," Damon said. He shoved one of his hands into his jean pocket and pulled out a set of keys, tossing them to Katherine. "Go ahead and get in the car, I've got to see if Mom needs anything while we're in town."

"Don't be too long," Katherine said.

—

"I think this is the sexiest car I've ever seen," Elena said.

"It's just as sexy as Damon."

Katherine walked over to the passenger door and unlocked it. She reached behind the seat and slid it forward, and Elena quickly climbed in.

Elena was sure she was bright red when Katherine turned in her seat to look at her. "If you say so…"

"You don't have to be shy about it; I noticed how you kept looking at him after he gave me the keys." Katherine smirked. "I don't mind. Hell, sleep with him for all I care."

Elena was sure she was red as a tomato now. She fought to hold back a gasp, and only mildly succeeded. "I couldn't do that to you. He's your boyfriend."

"Don't act so scandalized," Katherine said. "Damon and I have an open relationship. I've actually got another guy I'm seeing, unless you have someone back home?"

"Oh, no, I had a boyfriend in high school, Matt, but we decided it was really awkward because we were friends first. We broke up right before we graduated high school—but you have an open relationship? How does that work?"

Katherine shrugged. "Damon and I have been together for nearly two years now, but after the first year he started wondering what else was out there and so did I. We are serious about each other, and I really love him, but he suggested we make things open. I was hesitant at first, but now I don't have to feel so guilty about sleeping with my History TA. So, if you get an itch, feel free to scratch it with him."

Elena had no possible idea how Katherine could be so cavalier about the fact that her boyfriend had told her he wanted an open relationship.

"Ah, I know that face, I see it all the time when I tell people we're open," Katherine said. "Damon isn't an asshole for asking me if we could have something open and be with other people. I actually think it has made us closer. We have rules."

"I just don't know if that would be in my comfort zone." Elena uncomfortably sat back in the car and pulled on her seat belt. "Besides, I kind of don't think he likes me after what I pulled with the horse."

Katherine laughed. "Are you kidding me? He can get really hot headed with the horses, and it doesn't matter if it's a rescue or a horse he's known for years. I think it was great that you pointed out to him he didn't need the rope with Blue. If anything, you impressed him. Also, I might have caught him checking out your ass."

Elena's cheeks flushed in embarrassment again.

"Let me guess… this Matt guy was the only person you've ever been with?" Katherine smiled at her. "That's so sweet."

Elena couldn't decide if Katherine genuine or a sarcastic, and she didn't have a chance to reply because Damon opened the driver's door and sat down.

"Sorry that took so long, girls," he said. "Mom doesn't need anything but she kept me to talk for a few minutes."

"That's okay," Katherine said. "I would have come in to say hi to her, but I don't think your mom likes me too much." She handed Damon his keys.

Elena ran her hands across the black leather interior of the car as it purred to life and nervously looked at Damon. She couldn't help but be more curious about him after what Katherine told her. He seemed to be very affectionate to Katherine, and as they pulled out of the driveway, he took her hand. Elena would have never guessed he was something other than a loving boyfriend or that the two of them were in an open relationship, but she realized she might be thinking about the whole thing in the wrong way. Maybe he was affectionate; there wasn't a reason he wouldn't be.

It wasn't any of her damn business, she decided. She certainly wasn't going to sleep with another woman's boyfriend either. It was absurd, even if Katherine did tell her it was okay for it to happen. Elena shocked herself by even considering it for one second.

—

"I'll be back in a minute," Katherine said as Damon and Elena took a seat in a booth. "I need to go to the lady's room."

Damon stared at her new roommate curiously. She seemed nervous around him after he got into the car and he hadn't exactly been nice to her when they met. She's gorgeous, he thought, and he had never seen Blue come around so easily before.

"How old are you exactly, Elena?" he asked, taking a sip of his water.

"I'm just starting college. One of the dorms was closed and my friend backed out on me, so I think that's the only reason Katherine and I got assigned as roommates," Elena said. She even sounded nervous as she spoke to him. He knew he had that effect on the ladies, but something about her nerves pleased him. For a brief second he wondered why that was, but then she continued. "I'm nineteen."

"I didn't realize you were that young," Damon said in surprise. "Well, I guess I can't offer to get you a beer then."

Elena shook her head, giving him a sad smile. "No, I'm sorry, you can't."

There was a minute or two of painful awkwardness, where they each sipped at their drinks before the tension grew too agonizing to endure any longer. She was barely able to look at him, was only doing the Small Chat thing (barely), and refused eye contact whenever possible. He snapped.

"Okay, what did Katherine tell you about me?" Damon blurted out, "Because you look hellishly uncomfortable."

Elena blanched. "She didn't say anything—"

"Katherine has a syndrome where she's unable to keep her mouth shut. What'd she tell you?"

She shook her head. "It wasn't anything that was bad, I don't think," Elena said. "It was just…"

"It was just…_what?"_

"Um, she kind of pointed out that you have an open relationship and to go for it if I ever want to sleep with you."

When Damon told Katherine that he wanted to try an open relationship, he never thought she would agree to it so easily. She'd agreed to it almost too easily and to that day Damon still hadn't exactly tested Katherine's boundaries even though he had hooked up with the occasional girl after a night of drinking too much with his friend, Alaric.

"You know, I'm being silly." Elena huffed and rolled her eyes and Damon had to admit she was pretty damn adorable. "It just made me feel awkward because I've _just _met you."

"Katherine's been trying to get me to find someone more regular to go on dates with," Damon said. "If she makes you uncomfortable, let her know."

"It's not a big deal," Elena said.

Able to see right through her, he smirked. "I can have a talk with her if you want me to."

"Really, it's okay."

Damon was about to protest again when Katherine came back at that moment and slid into the booth.

—

Later that night, after Damon and Katherine dropped Elena off at Stevenson Hall they were back at his apartment. Damon studied Katherine as she got ready for bed.

"You made your roommate really uncomfortable when you told her about our relationship, you know."

Katherine took out her earrings and tied her hair up. "What?" She looked at him through his reflection in the mirror. "Why shouldn't I have said something? All of our friends know."

"You've only just met her today," Damon said. "Little quick, don't you think?"

Katherine sighed and turned to look at him. "I was just kidding with her. I didn't think she would take me so seriously." Katherine shrugged, and Damon had to wonder if _she_ was taking _him _seriously. "She's a nice girl, isn't she? I don't regret having to give up my private room now."

Katherine had bitched for weeks about having a roommate, to the point where Damon had to ignore some of her text messages and calls while she was home for the summer otherwise he might have lost it. Doing so, however, had only caused the girl to get pissed off at Damon.

"If you want to sleep with her you should."

"_Katherine,_" Damon said.

She held up her hands. "Okay, okay, I'll drop it."

—

There ya have it! Leave a review! I actually might go to sleep again, haha. It'd be awesome to wake up to a lot of them if I do drift off.


	3. Chapter Two

HOH

I've had one HELL of a block on this story the past week (don't worry about me finishing it! This is perfectly natural after going on an 80,000+writing kick the past month and Kate is a really awesome sounding board)—lucky for y'all that I was in a good mood because I upgraded my phone to the iPhone 5c and had this already written! I'm about to go to bed and can't wait to screw around with Siri some more XD

Thank you very much to Kate (thisismyescape) for the beta and to Cher Sue for the pre-read. Girls, tell me to stop using the goddamn merge changes on Word. Siriusly (okay…maybe I'm reading Harry Potter again too… I might be moseying my way on over to the HP fanfiction section right now…)

Chapter Two

The first week of college flew in a blur. Bonnie had been pissed off at Elena for blowing off freshmen orientation stuff, but eventually she understood Elena's need to know Katherine, and she admitted that most of the activities they made the freshmen do were extremely silly. It was also easier for Bonnie to forgive Elena when they had signed up for a few basic classes together such as English 101 with Caroline.

It was now Friday night and the three of them decided they needed to have a girl's night in Bonnie's dorm, complete with soda, chocolate, and all other sorts of junk food they decided to buy on a whim in the school's convenience store. Elena was glad to get away from the dorm for the night because she was certain Katherine was going to have a guy who was not Damon over but she hadn't told the girls that.

"You are both so right," Caroline said with a deep sigh as she collapsed onto Bonnie's bed. "I should have moved on campus. Driving back and forth between campus and home is exhausting!"

"At least you can have your car," Bonnie groaned.

"You've kept an eye on Jeremy, right?" Elena asked Caroline. "He's taking care of my car?"

"Oh yeah," Caroline said. "Matt and Tyler spend time with him playing video games so much when I'm there trying to do homework it drives me crazy."

Knowing that Matt and Tyler were spending time with Jeremy made Elena feel better. She had talked to Jenna and Jeremy on the phone periodically throughout the week, but Jeremy was never much one to stay on the phone long and she couldn't help worrying about her little brother. Jeremy went through an angry stage after their parents died. Elena and Jenna had been so unsure what to do with him when he started talking back and even went so far as to smoke pot. If it hadn't been for Tyler and Matt stepping in and taking him under their wing, Elena didn't want to imagine what might have happened had he gotten worse.

"I still can't believe Matt wanted to wait a semester before he goes to college," Bonnie said. "I haven't had a chance to talk to Tyler much either. Does he like Whitmore?"

"He loves it," Caroline said. "He had football practice for the first time today and it was so great watching him play again. Next week we're going to start carpooling to save money."

"I might go home next weekend," Bonnie said. "My roommate has family in town so she is gone a lot."

"You're lucky," Caroline said. "Jenna's stories about her college roommate were scary."

Elena shuddered. "Don't remind me. I was worried about having an older roommate but Katherine isn't bad."

"Sarah stays up really late when she's here," Bonnie said with a huff, "watching YouTube videos. She watches them so loud I have to cover my ears with my pillow."

"Yeah," Caroline said. "I'm glad I don't have to live with a complete stranger. Katherine could be your twin, though, Elena. It's kind of freaky."

Elena hadn't really thought about it too much before but she had to admit Caroline was right. Bonnie and Caroline had been to her dorm earlier that week between classes when the three of them wanted coffee but didn't feel like spending their whole break between classes waiting in line in the little coffee shop in the library.

"I guess she does. She is the president of the equestrian club on campus," Elena said, "and her boyfriend is the son of the stable owners."

"Oh," Caroline said. "Screw the stories about your roommate. Is her boyfriend cute? Men who work with horses are so hot. Is he like, a cowboy—Or, OH!—"

Elena and Bonnie burst out laughing. Even though she had Tyler, Caroline never passed up the opportunity for boy talk.

"He's really attractive," Elena said as she tried to recall what she learned about Damon in the last week. "He is really passionate about this horse, Blue Moon, who he adopted from the Humane Society. They both have gorgeous blue eyes and—"

"Oh my God," Caroline said with a giggle. "You're crushing on him!"

Elena's eyes widened as Bonnie and Caroline stared at her, and she pushed some of her hair from her face nervously.

"No I don't," Elena protested.

"I've never seen you get so excited about a guy," Bonnie said, "not even when you thought you had feelings for Matt."

"Elena, honey, it's not cool to have a crush on another girl's boyfriend," Caroline said. "But you should totally see if he has a brother you could date if he's that cute."

Elena huffed. "The both of you are ridiculous," she said. "I don't have a crush on him…and even if I did, Katherine and Damon are in an open relationship."

"Whoa," Bonnie said. "Really? Don't they ever get jealous?"

"Well, I haven't gotten to know them that well yet but I don't think Katherine has any jealousy issues. She told me to sleep with him if I wanted."

"I wouldn't," Bonnie said. "My cousin Lucy dated a guy who was in an open relationship and fell in love with him. He ended up staying with his girlfriend and she cried to me for weeks about it on the phone."

"Why shouldn't you have a little fun?" Caroline asked. "You're smart enough not to fall in love with a guy after some fun in bed, I'm sure," Caroline said. "You should take him for a ride."

Bonnie gasped and threw a pillow at Caroline while Elena gaped.

She was quickly getting tired of everyone's suggestion that she sleep with Damon. Just because she was attracted to him didn't mean they had to end up in bed together, and she wasn't really even that sure she would be around him that much even if she did join the equestrian club.

"Can we _please _drop this?" she asked. "I shouldn't have even mentioned it. I like Damon because he's a potential friend and that's _all_."

"Absolutely not," Caroline said. "I need to see him first but if he's hot and in an open relationship you should just go for it, Elena. We're in college. We're supposed to experiment."

Elena found that to be an extremely odd idea for Caroline to have when she was in a solid relationship with Tyler Lockwood back home in Mystic Falls.

"You know what? We decided we're having a Boy Meets World marathon… the question is just which season we should watch," Bonnie said.

Caroline could beat a conversation the both of them didn't want to have to death, and her favorite subject was usually Bonnie and Elena's love lives.

"_Thank you_," Elena said.

"Hey! You guys are so not distracting me with Boy Meets World," Caroline said. "Why shouldn't you talk to me about this guy?"

"He's got a girlfriend, that's enough for me to not want to go there," Elena said. "…And he's older."

Lame, Elena, she thought. Very lame.

"You're just making excuses. He's older?" Caroline laughed and rolled her eyes. "I think you might benefit from a fling with an older guy even if he does have a girlfriend he's in an open relationship with."

"You know what?" Bonnie said, "I'm putting on the season where Cory and Topanga start college."

"We should start with the episode where the Salem kitty sends Cory back in time back to the 1940s," Caroline said, thankfully giving in when she seemed to realize Elena and Bonnie were done talking about boys. "I liked season five the most… Topanga and Cory had a really epic love."

—

Elena yawned the next morning as she walked into Stevenson Hall at ten in the morning. Her backpack uncomfortably dug into her shoulders once she reached the second flight of stairs to the dorm, but she pushed forward, even though she wished she was in a residence hall like Bonnie's where they had elevators.

"Oh geez!"Elena yelped when she walked inside of the room.

Katherine had her bra off and an unfamiliar, shirtless man had her pressed against Elena's dresser. Much more awake, Elena grabbed the door knob. She was pretty sure Katherine's pants were undone too but she turned her head quickly.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" she yelped as she slammed the door shut.

"_Ssh!_" A girl from across the hallway glared at Elena when she dropped her backpack to the floor.

"Go to hell," Elena snapped. When the rude girl stomped past her to the bathroom, she let out a shuddery breath and buried her head into her hands.

How dare that girl be judgmental after what Elena just walked in on? Elena never considered herself to be a prude and she wasn't a virgin, but Katherine could have a little more decency and warn her if she was going to have someone pressing her up _her _dresser, right?

Elena hadn't actually talked to Katherine about that. She was terrified to step back inside her room.

"Hey," Katherine, who was now dressed, poked her head out of their dorm. "I'm _so _sorry. I didn't think you would come home for a while since you spent the night with your friends."

Elena sucked in a breath. "Um, so that's one of the guys you, um, with the open relationship?"

"Stefan is Damon's brother."

Christ on a cracker, Katherine was screwing Damon's _brother_? Elena couldn't believe it but the urge to laugh hysterically after the conversation she had with Bonnie and Caroline when they asked if Damon had a brother bubbled up and she had to cover her mouth and bite the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing out loud.

"Are you okay?" Katherine asked hesitantly.

"I just was not expecting that," Elena said. "Against my dresser, Katherine, really? If we're going to work as roommates, I have to demand more respect than that."

Katherine opened the door wider. Much to Elena's relief, Stefan had his shirt on.

"I'm really sorry too," Stefan said. He at least had the decency to look embarrassed and was trying to straighten out his brown mussed up hair. Elena could see how he was related to Damon though. Stefan was about Damon's height and they had the same structure in their chins.

Katherine cleared her throat. "Stefan, this is my roommate, Elena."

"Great to meet you," Elena said. She ignored Stefan when his hand awkwardly shot out to shake hers. She tried not to notice earlier but the image of that same hand shoved into Katherine's pants a few minutes before would be hard for her to forget. "I'm just dropping some stuff off, that's why I came home earlier."

Stefan cleared his throat nervously. "I should probably get going," he said. Elena watched them as discreetly as she could. Katherine pulled him down for a kiss and promised him they would pick up where they left off later.

As long as it wasn't against her dresser, Elena was going to stay out of Katherine's business.

"Are you mad at me? I'd hate for you to be mad when we haven't even lived more than a week," Katherine said.

"I've just—I didn't expect that to happen. I knew you had someone over last night but… Well, I don't know _what _I was thinking exactly."

"I just got caught up in the moment with him," Katherine said.

"Does, um, Damon know you're sleeping with his brother?"

Katherine reached above her head with both arms and stretched. "He does, but Stefan is the one guy I don't talk to Damon about, or let him know if I have plans to spend time with him. Stefan is self-conscious and worried about messing his relationship up with his brother enough as it is."

"Right," Elena said. "I see."

"I've _completely _traumatized you, haven't I?" Katherine asked. "I don't know if I can apologize enough."

"Um, maybe you should send me a text next time? If you think you're going to have a guy over who you might get involved with, just let me know and I'll spend more time with Bonnie and Caroline or—I don't know, go read in the park."

"I think I can do a text message," Katherine said.

That would be so much better, Elena thought, than walking in on _that _again.

They both stood in their room awkwardly. Elena felt like she should change the subject, maybe ask Katherine how her night went, but realized she was better off not asking.

Katherine cleared her throat. "So there is a first club meeting on Monday in the library. Are you still going to join the club? We need to see how many members we might get before we can ride as a group but I was thinking you and I could go spend time together as roomies with the horses. You can bring Bonnie and Caroline if you want to."

Elena grabbed a hair clip and walked to her closet. She needed to hoof it to find a potential job, and she needed to find something loose fitting since she would have to hoof it off campus. She tossed a pair of new black flats onto her bed too.

"Yeah, it sounds great," Elena said. "Caroline actually asked me about the club this morning. Bonnie was a little uncertain about it."

"Does she not like horses?"

"She's just never been around them," Elena said. "I don't think she's ever ridden."

Katherine climbed onto her bed and picked her laptop off the floor. Elena was aware of her watching her as she put a few things for a shower and clothes to change into.

"Are you so uncomfortable with what happened that you're going to leave?"

Elena turned quickly and shook her head. "No, no. It was—well—I wanted—" Realizing she was acting incredibly silly from the look Katherine was giving her, Elena rolled her eyes at herself. "I need to go look for a job because I want some extra money and I thought I would go look around and see if anything near campus is hiring."

"There are some great places for a job close by. Do you need a ride? It's supposed to be miserably hot today."

"I think I should take a walk and try to get to know the area by myself," Elena said. "I can't always rely on you because of a stupid university rule that makes it so I can't have my car."

"Okay," Katherine said. "If you need me, you have my phone number."

—

"Your father is an asshole. I don't know why I ever bothered to marry him."

Damon looked at his mother, Aberlie, as she hoisted up a bag of horse feed over her shoulder inside of her truck, and then jumped down.

"Mom, you should let me do that—"

"Enough, Damon."

"You don't need to throw your back out again."

"I'm too pissed off at your father to care," Aberlie snapped.

Damon crossed his arms and frowned at her.

"Don't look at me like that, son. Giuseppe is getting on my last nerve about Katherine's little equestrian club and raising prices so the kids can ride, and I don't think that would be fair to them."

"Well, I can't deny that Dad is an asshole. Alaric almost punched him last night when Katherine and I were trying to decide if she should raise due and club fees."

"Your father is just a business man, always has been," Aberlie said. "He tried to bargain his way out of marrying me when he got me pregnant while I was still in college with you. My dad left this property to me and I wouldn't charge those kids a dime if it wasn't for his pushing."

Damon knew this story, and he wasn't exactly proud of his father for it. Obviously he married their mom, but she was six months pregnant and had to drop out of college. Thankfully her father owned these stables and let her come back home and work with the horses before Giuseppe came around.

"He just needs to trust you, mom," Damon said.

"What he needs to do," Aberlie said, throwing the feed down next to a stack of hay bales, "is stay the hell away from my horses. He's never liked them—fuck!"

Aberlie stretched her shoulders and arched her back.

"I told you to let me get that for you," Damon chastised. "You're not allowed to move anymore bags."

"Nonsense," Aberlie said. "I just need to pop my back." She pushed some of her grey-black hair out of her face. "What you could do for me is run to town and get me the groceries off my list so I can make dinner for everyone tonight. You'll stay, won't you?"

"Of course I will." Damon sighed and pushed himself off the wall. "I can't wait for the equestrian club to start so we'll have more help. Blue Moon gets extra when you feed him."

"I know he does," Aberlie said. "That reminds me! I need to show you something."

Abandoning the bags of horse feed for now, Damon followed his mother to her office in the barn. She walked over to her cluttered desk—full of paper, a couple of coffee mugs she needed to clean, her computer, and other miscellaneous stuff—where she opened a drawer.

"Where are they…? Oh! Here."

Aberlie threw five pictures at Damon. He looked at them, and then looked at his mother in surprise. "Is this Blue Moon?"

"Yeah. He was used for barrel racing. I found his breeder, and apparently he was pretty damn good before they sold him to the stupid bitch who had him. He's definitely only three years old. I thought Kat might want to take him around the barrels."

"She and Rhiannon are really close to each other, and Blue Moon doesn't exactly like anyone right now," Damon said.

"He just needs time. He was in a bad situation and I'm very proud of you for adopting him. What about that—what was her name—Kat's new roommate? Blue warmed up to her, didn't he?"

"I don't know how much experience she has with horses, but she seemed to understand animals," Damon said.

"Well, you and Katherine should ask her if he warmed up to her so quick. I saw her the day Kat brought her over. She's small enough she could barrel race. We need a few more for some of the competitions coming up to represent the stables."

"We'll see," Damon said. "Where's that grocery list?"

—

Two hours later Elena was frustrated beyond belief. She hadn't paid attention to where she was going, took the wrong street, and now felt completely turned around. Sheer stubbornness and the need to learn the area around campus kept her from looking up directions on her phone or calling Katherine to ask her to come pick her up. Caroline had gone home that morning, too, and the one person she may have given into calling was back in Mystic Falls.

Despite getting lost, Elena felt like she made a lot of progress in her job finding mission. She could have easily looked online for something, but she wanted the experience of actually walking around town to find a job. Even though she was lost she was sure if she backtracked that she would figure out where she was, and so she didn't feel like she had to ask for help.

She would have never found a little coffee shop, Common Grounds, if she hadn't made the wrong turn. She talked to the owner, Shelly, while she was there, who was running the cash register because they had just had a barista walk out on them. Elena tried a raspberry tea while she was there and walked out with the promise of an interview set up for Thursday morning. She hoped she would find it again, and she also had a few other applications in case she didn't get the job. Shelly seemed like a nice woman, and Elena felt a little excited that she found something with better tasting drinks than the coffee shop on campus.

She should have grabbed a water bottle before she left, however, because another reason she felt so lost was because she felt like she was soaked in sweat, and she was pretty sure she was starting to develop a sun burn because she was foolish and forgot to put on sun lotion in her haste to get away from her dorm. She shouldn't have worn her new flats either, but she hadn't thought she would be out for so long.

Maybe she was avoiding the fact that Katherine made her uncomfortable, too. Elena didn't want to let that affect her—the whole Katherine having sex with her incredibly handsome boyfriend's brother in the dorm, but it did, and it sucked because Katherine wasn't the worst roommate Elena could have ended up with.

The sound of a car horn jolted Elena out of her thoughts and made her jump back onto the sidewalk in fright. Pissed off because she had a walking light while the asshole who honked at her had red, the urge to flip the bird died immediately when she saw Damon's Camaro.

"You scared the _hell _out of me!" Elena gasped.

Damon laughed loudly and pushed up his sunglasses. "I couldn't help it." The roof on his convertible was down and he casually wiggled his brows at her.

Elena bit down the urge to call him a dick. She cleared her throat and switched feet because her shoes were digging into a blister on her heel.

"Do you need a ride?"

"Yeah, sure," Elena said. "It is way hotter than I thought it was going to be."

Damon leaned across the front seat and popped the passenger door open for her. "Get in then. I'll drop you off on campus since it's on my way."

Elena groaned a little when she sat down, the pressure in her feet from her blisters easing off a little bit.

"Are you all right?" Damon asked.

"I got a little turned around while I was walking. I wanted to look for a job," she indicated this by rattling some of the job applications in her hand, "and these shoes are new. I've got some bad blisters."

"Why didn't you ask Katherine or someone to give you a ride?" Damon asked. "Hell, you could have even called me."

"Well, I don't have your number," Elena said, "and I wanted to do this on my own. I need to get to know the town since I can't have my car."

"Well, go ahead and take your shoes off," Damon said. "You're really close to campus; I can't believe you felt lost."

Elena groaned and realized she probably sounded pretty stupid. "I got turned around Third Street and that's where I got lost…and it's so hot." Her hair felt wet and sticky around her neck, and she reached up and pulled it up as Damon started to drive again. The air around the convertible felt unbelievably nice.

"All you had to keep doing was go straight," Damon said. "You would have found campus. Are you okay? Do we need to stop somewhere to get you water?"

"No," Elena said. "I'll get some when I get back home." Elena kicked off her shoes. It felt really damn good to have them off.

Wait. Home meant she had to go see Katherine again, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to do that.

"So why were you in town?" she asked, making the quick decision she had to forget what she walked in on that morning, because if she didn't, things were going to be hellishly uncomfortable around Katherine, and neither one of them needed that.

"I had to get some groceries for my mother," Damon said. "She's making dinner tonight. Actually—would you like to come? Mom can make one hell of a home cooked meal. Katherine is going to be there. Mom is insisting on having me and my brother there and she loves it when we bring friends over."

"Um, I don't know," Elena hesitated, completely taken by surprise. She definitely was not ready to see Stefan again after what she walked in on.

"Aw, come on," Damon said. "I'll take you out to say hi to Blue Moon. You really were right about the rope; he's turned around even though he is skittish around other people."

"I'd love that," Elena said. "He kind of won me over with his big blue eyes."

"Katherine should be ready when we get to campus," Damon said.

"Oh… well, I should probably take a quick shower when we get back. I feel so gross from my walk. I managed to successfully get an interview though," Elena said, "at Common Grounds."

"I don't see why there is any reason Katherine and I shouldn't wait."

"What do you have that you want to show me?" Elena asked.

"You and Katherine will have to wait until after dinner," Damon said, a mysterious smile tugging at his lips as he refused to comment any further.

Please be sure to review! I'm serious… (two Sirius jokes in one chapter would be too much) when I say that reviews will help me write a little more once I hear your ideas. This story isn't as set in stone as Cheap Guitars (which I need to work on tomorrow). :)

Love and hearts and bunny kisses go out to those who have been reviewing, favoriting, and alerting!

Speaking of bunnies, you can see common occurrences of cute overload if you follow me on Twitter: anglcdmn1986 (just don't be alarmed if I threaten to chop Winnie's balls off… he's getting neutered next week and he's a brat who keeps nipping me).


	4. Chapter Three

Thanks to Kate for betaing!

Chapter Three

As Damon pulled his Camaro into the parking lot near Stevenson Hall, he looked over at Elena. Her hair was a little frizzy from her walk and she lightly fanned herself with the few papers she had in her hands. She looked awfully cute in her light pink tank top and blue jean shorts. The shorts made her legs look long and slender, and damn him if he didn't catch himself looking at them a few times on the way to campus.

"Do you want to come up?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at him. "I guess you and Katherine could wait for me while I take a quick shower. I promise I won't be more than ten minutes. I just need to cool down."

"I'll need to be let in though. Do you mind checking me into the dorm?" Damon said as he parked the car and turned it off.

"Um, I haven't ever done that—we just give them our IDs, right?"

"Yeah," Damon said. "It's not a big deal." He climbed out of the car and noticed how Elena winced before she took a breath and put her shoes back on. "Are you okay?"

"I told you I was," Elena answered as she climbed out of the Camaro and shut the door. "I've had worse blisters than this."

"Alright, well if you ever need a ride somewhere, let me or Katherine know next time," Damon said. They walked together toward the dorm. "Did you find any places you are going to actually send those applications to?"

"What—oh," Elena said, looking down at what Damon assumed were job applications. "I'm going to send them all in, but I'm the most excited about Common Grounds."

"That's a really neat coffee place," Damon said. "I usually just drink mine black but Katherine likes to get her non-fat chai-whatevers," he couldn't remember the name of the actual drink she ordered when they went there, "but for three bucks I can drink as many cups as I want."

Elena nodded. "I love coffee shops like that. Even if I don't get the job I think I might go there anyway."

"What have you majored in?" Damon asked suddenly.

Elena shrugged. "I haven't actually declared my major yet. I'm pretty sure I want to major in English, but I can't decide if I want to go more the technical writer or creative writer route. I love writing but right now it's really more of a hobby than anything else."

Intrigued, Damon stopped so he could open the front door to Stevenson Hall and let Elena inside. "Creative writing, huh? What do you like to write about?"

"Ah," Elena said, "mostly I like to write nonfiction. I have some crazy stories about my Aunt Jenna, but creative writing majors focus more on literary aspects of their work than anything and what little fiction I have written, I think I'm definitely a genre writer. Of what though, I haven't decided yet."

Fair enough, Damon thought to himself. Elena was still really young. She didn't have to have her life figured out right away.

"Hey," Elena said to a short pudgy girl with blonde hair at the front desk. "I'd like to check my friend in."

"Could I have your IDs?"

Damon smiled at the girl when she looked up. She turned bright red. Women tended to do that around him a lot and it never got old.

"Sure thing," he said, reaching into his back pocket to pull his wallet out. He pulled out his driver's license and handed it to her while Elena pulled out her school ID.

—

Her feet hurt like hell by the time they reached the third floor, but Elena bit her lower lip and didn't say anything about it. She was going to definitely going to wear a pair of old flip flops when she went to dinner tonight with Damon and Katherine.

Peaking inside of her room, Elena eyed her dresser to make sure no one had Katherine pinned against it, and realized she was acting completely ridiculous when she opened the door and went inside. Damon followed her, and she snuck a glance back at him. He seemed to be amused by her hesitancy to go inside of her room.

"Hey Kat," Damon said, shutting the door behind him.

"Hi babe," Katherine said. Elena watched them hug as she put job applications down on her desk and grabbed her shower caddy. "I'm almost ready to go."

"Um, actually, Damon invited me to come over tonight," Elena said. "So if it's okay with you, I'm going to hop in the shower really quick to cool off from job hunting."

Katherine smirked at her. "I told you it was going to be hot today. You should have just let me give you a ride."

Elena shot Katherine a nervous smile as she grabbed a towel from her closet. "I'll—uh—tell you about it later. I'm going to go take that shower now though. I promise I won't be too long Damon."

—

"Okay," Damon said to Katherine once Elena got a few of her things together for her shower, "what happened earlier? Elena was acting skittish as hell."

Katherine turned bright red and busied herself with looking in her dresser for something.

"Did you have someone over?"

Katherine still didn't answer him, instead busied herself with pulling her hair into a side a pony tail.

Completely confused, Damon leaned against one of the closet doors and frowned as he studied his girlfriend. She nervously messed with her hair for a few seconds as she looked into a mirror she had hanging in a corner near a mini fridge.

"I'm guessing she found you with Stefan."

Damon wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. He did know Katherine had sex and went on dates with his brother. He agreed to give her as much freedom she wanted as long as she was careful and hadn't really given her any limits. If he had, maybe Damon would have told her to stay away from Stefan, but he felt like it was a moot point.

Katherine froze for a second. "She might have…" she said.

"I don't want to know the details," Damon said. "In fact, I don't _need _to know the details. Just tell me the two of you—"

Katherine turned around quickly. "Of course, baby." She laughed nervously. "Just because Elena got a little embarrassed doesn't mean _we _have to be awkward about it." Smirking at him, she walked up to him and gave him a kiss. "Stop looking so grumpy."

Damon took the few moments Katherine fussed with her hair to look around the girl's dorm. Katherine had a preference for black and red and a few pictures of the two of them were pinned up on her corner mirror, as well as one of her mother, Isobel, and Rhiannon. Elena obviously hadn't had time to get many things to decorate her side of the room yet, but there were pink and white sheets with a floral pattern and a brown teddy bear on her bed.

Elena intrigued Damon. It was probably because she had been right about Blue Moon, but there was something else about her that made him want to know her. It was probably a good thing she was Katherine's roommate, then, he decided.

Elena came back to the room a few moments later with a towel wrapped around her head and a fresh set of jean shorts and a t-shirt. "Okay, I'm ready to go," she said.

"Do you think Aberlie would mind if we brought someone else?" Katherine asked.

A bit confused as to who else would come to dinner tonight, Damon said, "no, I don't think so. Who do you have in mind?"

"Well, Elena, I know you don't know many of us and a couple other members from the equestrian club last year, so I thought maybe Caroline or Bonnie would like to come? I'd like to get to know them too, since you said they're interested in joining."

"I'll give Bonnie a call," Elena said. "I'm sure she might like to go. It won't bother you if it takes a few minutes longer to get going, will it, Damon?"

Damon shook his head. "Nah, go for it."

Feeling the need to be next to Katherine, he walked over to her bed and pulled her onto it with him.

"Gah! I need to—"

"Your hair is fine, Kat," Damon said with a roll of his eyes as she landed in his lap. "And so is your make up, and Mom won't say anything bitchy about this outfit."

Katherine sighed as she frowned at him, but then leaned back against him as Elena pulled her wet hair back into a quick braid and then found her cell phone.

She did the most adorable rock from one foot to the other as she waited for her friend to pick up the phone. Damon knew Katherine had met Elena's friends during the week because she told him about it, if her friend came to dinner tonight, maybe some of his curiosity about her would be sated. He was still irritated with Katherine suggesting he sleep with Elena the first night they met each other, but Damon was starting to wonder if it would hurt anything if he at least took her out on a date. Elena seemed like she could use someone to be nice to her.

"Bonnie?" Elena actually looked excited when her friend answered the phone. "How do you feel about meeting Katherine's boyfriend and having dinner with his family?"

Elena waited for an answer, continuing to do rock back and forth on her feet. Her shower definitely reenergized her.

"Aww, you can put down your math homework so you can eat—" Elena stopped talking to listen to Bonnie again. She sighed. "Okay, but you better come to the equestrian club thing."

With that, she hung up the phone, and actually looked a little disappointed.

"Well, I guess she's not going to come," Elena said. "We better get those groceries to your mom."

"Could one of you girls grab that last bag for me?" Damon asked, one of his hands above the door of the Camaro's trunk as he held it up. He held most of the other groceries in his hands and Elena quickly darted over and grabbed the bag from the trunk. It looked like chicken and a bag of peas were in there.

"I've got it for you," Elena said, following behind him.

"Thanks," he smirked at her. "Appreciate it."

"Is Aberlie going all out tonight for dinner?" Katherine asked as they walked to the house.

"Not full out Italian, no. I think she's making fried chicken tonight."

Katherine groaned a little. "I hate it when she does that. I could go eat at KFC."

Katherine was really going to complain about what Damon's mother was making for them for dinner? Seriously? Elena bit her lower lip and didn't say anything when Damon opened the front door. He led them to the kitchen.

"Finally," a woman said as soon as Damon set down the bags of groceries. Elena figured she was probably Damon's mom. Her eyes were bright blue and she had a bit of flour sticking to her forehead, probably from where she wiped back some of her hair. "I was starting to think you got—Katherine, hello, dear," she didn't sound the happiest to see Katherine. Elena set down the bag next to the other groceries changing the focus of Aberlie. "Who's this pretty thing?"

Elena flashed a smile at her, already liking Damon's mother. "I'm Elena Gilbert, Katherine's roommate at Whitmore."

"I'm still surprised Katherine decided to share a room this year," she said, wiping flour off her right hand with her apron. "I'm Aberlie Salvatore." Aberlie had a very firm handshake for a woman, Elena noticed, as she took her hand. "I own the stables and the horses here. Damon is just a good boy and helps me train them."

"Well, I do more than—"

Aberlie laughed. "Of course you do sweetie. Now you kids get out of my kitchen. It should be done in about an hour."

"It's really nice meeting you, Mrs. Salvatore," Elena said. "Could we go see Blue Moon?" she asked, turning to look at Damon.

Elena wanted to be discreet in her enthusiasm about seeing the horse but she was sure she was transparent about it when Damon chuckled at her. "Sure, you can meet some of the other horses too."

"Grab some fruit for them while you're at it," Aberlie said, pointing over to the fridge. "May as well give them some sugar cubes too."

"Ah!" Elena jumped back suddenly as something ran over her feet. "Is that a rabbit?"

The fluffy black rabbit looked up at her in surprise. He had the fuzziest, craziest hair around his head. He sniffed Elena's toes cautiously and then scurried under a small table.

"That's Gizmo," Damon explained. "Mom and I rescued him four years ago."

"Yep," Aberlie said. "We're big on rescuing pets here even though I breed horses for a living."

"Ugh," Katherine said with a frown. "Stefan hates that damn rabbit. How you can let him—"

Aberlie shot Katherine an awfully mean look that took Elena by surprise.

"He's house trained," Aberlie said. "Now you all need to get out of my kitchen. Give the horses some more grain too, would you, Damon?"

"No problem, mom."

They were almost to the barn when Damon pulled something out of his back pocket. Elena realized they were pictures as soon as he handed one to her and another to Katherine. Katherine took it with the hand that didn't have her arm looped around Damon's, where she held a small bag of apples and a baggie of sugar cubes.

"Is this Blue Moon?" Elena asked as she looked at the picture of a horse with a small red headed woman on his back. This horse looked healthier as he proudly stood in front of a barrel, his head held high.

"Yeah," Damon said.

"I'll be damned," Katherine said. "He was used for barrel racing?"

"Mom said his breeder found out what happened to him and gave these pictures to her," Damon said. "If we get him healthy enough, maybe you could use him and give Rhiannon a break, Kat."

"I don't know," Katherine said. "He doesn't like me one bit. The way he bites your hair makes me not want to get too close to him. We need another barrel racer to represent the team your mom put together."

"I think you should focus on getting him healthier before you put him through that again," Elena said.

"Of course we're going to do that first," Damon said.

"You said you used to ride," Katherine said to Elena. "Were you ever in any competitions?"

Elena shrugged. "Well… I jumped horses occasionally. And I might have barrel raced, but it's been like three years since I've really even though about doing anything like that."

Damon and Katherine gave each other a look.

"Oh, no way," Elena said. "I'm willing to be around the horses for the club and I want to see Blue Moon get better, but I don't think I want to do that again."

"Why not?" Katherine asked. "Were you any good?"

"It's been _years_," Elena said. "Blue Moon doesn't even really know me."

"Well, come on then," Damon said. He let go of Katherine and immediately took a hold of Elena's wrist as he pulled her toward the barn a little faster. He seemed a bit giddy about the thought that she had been a barrel racer, as did Katherine, and Elena realized she should have kept her big fat mouth shut about it.

She couldn't ignore the fact that his hand felt softer than it looked _or _the tingles on her skin where he touched her. Elena grunted, part in annoyance and in part because she shouldn't have worn damn flip flops when she knew she was going to be going to a _horse farm, _where she might get dragged into the stables like she was right at that moment.

"Here," Katherine said once they reached Blue Moon's stall, pulling an apple out. "Do you remember how to feed horses?"

Elena nervously nodded, "of course I do," she said as she took the apple. She walked up to the stall.

Blue Moon truly had the potential to be a beautiful horse. His hips didn't seem to be protruding as much since she last saw him, but they still did. He seemed a bit cleaner and his mane and tail were brushed and more trimmed than when she last saw him.

"Hey boy," Elena said, clearing her throat. "Want an apple?"

Blue Moon snorted into his hay but turned around and seemed to look at her curiously. Another horse neighed loudly.

"Oh for—hold on, Rhiannon!" Katherine hollered. Blue Moon's ears flattened at the sound of her voice as the same horse whinnied again and knocked against the stall door. "She knows I'm here," Katherine said as an explanation. "I better go say hi to her."

Damon chuckled as he walked up behind Elena. "Those two are really close," he said. "I knew I shouldn't ask her if she would take Blue around the barrels. In all honesty, Rhiannon would get very jealous and surly with her if she did."

"Come here boy," Elena said. She quickly took a bite out of the apple, and then held it out with her palm as flat as she could get it. Blue cautiously walked up to her as he sniffed loudly. "I know how it can be between a rider and her horse," Elena said. "I miss the one I used to ride."

She giggled loudly when Blue Moon finally decided he wanted the apple and took a bite from it. His lips tickled her hand.

Damon reached in and patted him behind one of his ears and the horse seemed to lean into his hand.

"You two have gotten closer too, I see," Elena said as she pulled her hand back and wiped it on the side of her shorts.

"I work with him every day," Damon said. "Even took him for a small ride today. He's still bony as hell but he seemed to like the extra attention."

"Maybe you should throw some alfalfa," Elena said. "I think they even have pellets you can use if you want to make sure he gets extra."

"You know a lot more about horses than you let on," Damon said.

Elena sighed. "I was around them constantly before my parents died."

"Oh…" Damon frowned, "I'm sorry."

Elena shrugged as she pulled Blue Moon closer to her by his halter and gave him a kiss on the nose. "It happened when I was sixteen."

"That still sucks," Damon said, seeming to not really know what else to say.

"It's a thing, it happened."

Even though she wasn't reliving it in full, she felt like something was caught in her throat as she talked about her parents and her horse. With a soft whinny, Blue Moon nudged Elena's hand for more attention and sniffed loudly.

"Oh, geez," Elena said, laughing it off. "I'm so not going to let this turn into a heavy conversation where I pour my heart out to you."

Damon smirked at her. "I have that effect on women. So does Blue Moon, apparently."

Elena rolled her eyes. "You're awfully sure of yourself," she told him, "both of you."

In a stall beside Blue Moon, another horse stuck its head over the door and sniffed loudly. Blue Moon laid his ears back flat and nickered.

"Hey now," Damon said. "Be nice to Applejax."

"Applejax?" Elena asked.

The horse seemed to know exactly what the two of them had as Damon took an apple out and walked over to him. He was dark red and part of his mane hung over the stall door as he reached forward to eat the apple from Damon's hand.

"This is Mom's Friesian," Damon explained. "He's won a few jumping competitions. He's sired a few champions too."

Patting Blue Moon on the nose, Elena watched as he eyed Applejax.

"I think Blue is a little jealous," she said with a giggle.

"I just don't think Blue likes sharing attention with anyone but himself," Damon said with a chuckle. "He's stopped nipping at me."

Elena kissed Blue Moon on the tip of his nose. "Good boy."

"You know," Damon said. "Applejax isn't retired yet. I think these old bones still have a bit of jumping left in them if you ever want to take him around an obstacle."

"Hmm, I don't know," Elena said.

Just then, Katherine came back with a wide grin on her face. "Rhiannon was really happy to see me. Ah, I see you've met Applejax."

Elena walked over to the other horse and Blue Moon whinnied in protest. "I'll come back to you in a second, Blue," she said. "How old is he?"

"He's nineteen," Damon said.

"Well, fancy that," Elena said as she reached up to scratch Applejax's ears. "We're the same age."

"Were you any good when you jumped?" Katherine asked.

Elena had told Katherine about her experience with horses one of the first nights they spent together in the dorm, but she didn't know as much as Damon did about what happened with her parents. Elena studied Katherine for a moment as she tried to decide if she might have heard any of the conversation with Damon, and it seemed like she hadn't.

"I guess I was," Elena said.

"Well, Aberlie could always use more riders in local competitions," Katherine said.

She was already joining the equestrian club; why not get on a team? She looked between the two horses and had to admit to herself it felt good to be in this kind of environment again. Could she still ride, though?

"If you're going to start again, Applejax is probably the perfect horse for it," Damon offered. "In fact, I was thinking about putting you on him anyway when the club goes for a trail ride the first time we go in about a week."

"He's a sweetie," Elena said. The older horse nudged her shoulder. She looked at Blue Moon, who had one ear forward and another back as he seemed to be thinking about the situation around him. She wanted to ask if she could ride _him _instead, but realized Damon probably still had a lot of work to do with him. "Let me think about the jumping."

"No problem," Katherine said. "We have one other girl who jumps for Aberlie and you'll probably meet her tonight. Actually, I wonder if Rebekah, Elijah, and Alaric are here yet."

Damon pulled out a handful of sugar cubes and offered them to Blue Moon, who happily delved in. "Yeah, we can do that. Mom is probably almost done with dinner anyway."

"Oh geez," Katherine said with a roll of her eyes. "No wonder these horses are always so nosy. You spoil the hell out of them with sugar."

"Only Blue Moon," Damon said with a chuckle. "Treats seem to help in winning him over, as well as not coming at him with a rope."

"So, what were you going to show us?" Elena asked, remembering that he'd had something planned.

"Don't get your panties in a twist," Damon smirked at Elena when he said this and damn if she didn't feel her cheeks turn red.


	5. Chapter Four

Hey guys! Wanted to go ahead and give you a new update. I'm probably going slow down the updates for a few months since a few things are coming up (I'll explain it in the author notes below).

Thank you very much to Kate for the beta and Cher Sue for the preread.

—

Chapter Four

Dinner smelled amazing.

Fried chicken, baked beans, green beans, corn, and fresh tea sat in the center of a large oak table. This topped Aunt Jenna's feeble home cooked meal attempts, KFC, and the cafeteria food they served on campus combined.

"Could you hand me the salt?" a British blonde asked from beside Damon. She was another member of the equestrian club, and Elena thought Katherine introduced her as Rebekah.

Upon coming back to the house so they could eat, Katherine and Damon gave Elena a crash course in learning everyone's names. Elena had already met Stefan (who purposely avoided eye contact with her) and Aberlie. Katherine sat between Stefan and another guy, Elijah, who was Alaric's TA in the history department, and Rebekah's brother. Alaric was Damon's good friend and the equestrian club mentor (basically he spoke up for the club and helped make it legitimate on campus). Giuseppe, Damon and Stefan's father, sat at the head of the table while Aberlie sat opposite him at the other side. Elena sat next to Damon.

"So, Damon," Alaric said as he reached for the pan of mashed potatoes, "how is training going with that Thoroughbred yearling?"

"Going good," Damon said. "Mom and I should be able to sell him soon. I've been really focused on Blue Moon, but Zeus hasn't fought me on anything."

Alaric snorted. "Every time I hear his name, I want to go for a drink. We should go out after dinner."

"Sounds like a plan," Damon said. "I can't drink too much though. I've got to drop the girls off at the dorm after dinner tonight."

"I'm with you," Elijah said. "You should bring Katherine and Elena."

"Oh," Elena said, picking some chicken up with a fork, "I'm not twenty-one yet."

Aberlie glared at the three of them. "Boys, there are impressionable minds at this table. Set a better example."

"Abs, when have I _ever _been a good example for kids?" Alaric asked.

Aberlie rolled her eyes as she picked some chicken off a chicken breast. "I wish you boys wouldn't drink so much, is all."

"I wouldn't be opposed to getting a drink either," Katherine said.

"Oh for heaven's sake, Alaric, do you see what I mean?"

Damon, Alaric, and Elijah looked at each other guiltily and Elena took a bite of mashed potatoes to keep from giggling.

From the other end of the table, Giuseppe cleared his throat. "So Katherine, about those club dues… I think you should charge the ten dollars or whatever it is the college asks for, and then ask for another two-fifty for—"

"That is utterly outrageous," Rebekah said with a gasp. Katherine had explained to Elena earlier that she was the vice president. "Our club barely has enough members as it is. We're college students, Mr. Salvatore, and not all of us are working while we study."

"Well now, hear me out," Giuseppe said. "I decided it should be a onetime fee—"

Aberlie slapped the table. "Peppe, this is my goddamn horse farm. If you don't drop it right this instant you're sleeping on the couch for a week." Then, as an afterthought with her right index finger pointed at her husband, she added, "And I won't do that favorite thing you love with my tongue for even longer."

Elena and Rebekah gave scandalized gasps, Damon and Stefan flushed in embarrassment while Elijah and Alaric, and Katherine all burst into laughter.

"_Mom,_" Stefan said.

"Dad," Damon growled out. "You really need to drop this. It's getting ridiculous."

"I'd do what she said," Alaric said to Giuseppe. "Abs sounds like she means business."

Aberlie pushed some of her grey-black hair from her face as she glared at her husband. "Damn straight, I do!" she said, slapping her hand against the table.

"Abby, there isn't a reason to be like that, and not in front of the guests," Giuseppe said gruffly. He cleared his throat and speared some green beans with his fork.

"Well, there isn't—"

"So," Katherine interrupted. "You know how I've been trying to find somewhere I could volunteer off campus as a nursing student?"

Rebekah, seemingly thankful for the change in subject, sat up a little straighter and nodded her head. "How is that going? I can't wait to start my clinical next semester."

"Well, since I want to work in a family practice, I decided to go with a local clinic. They take a lot of Whitmore students so I thought it would be a great opportunity."

"That's awesome, babe," Damon said.

Katherine grinned really wide.

"Speaking of awesome," Damon said a few minutes later, looking at Katherine and Elena. "Girls, there's something I've been dying to show you both outside since I picked you up at the dorm if you want to come with me."

"Damon, you've barely eaten," Aberlie admonished.

Elena reached for her tea and took a sip. She felt like sinking back into the chair and disappearing. Maybe she shouldn't have agreed to dinner with them, she thought, as she noticed the way Giuseppe and Aberlie glared at each other from across the table and the small way Katherine and Stefan seemed to be sitting a little closer to each other while Damon was right across from them on the other side of the table.

"I'm sort of dying to know what the surprise is," Elena said.

Rebekah smiled brightly. "Oh, you and Katherine will love the—"

"_Bekah_," Damon hissed, "don't ruin it for them."

—

"Why are we going to the old barn?" Katherine asked.

It was a little dark, but the faint orange glow of security lights lit up the pathway to a much older barn than what the horses were kept in.

"Yeah, it is kind of axe-murder-y," Elena said.

Katherine gave Elena an odd look while Damon snorted in laughter.

"Will you two stop being suspicious of me?" he asked once they reached the barn. He reached for the lock and pulled it up and Katherine helped him open the barn up by pulling open the other door.

"I just don't want to be out here for too long," Katherine said. "If we're going to hit the bar with Alaric we should go soon."

Damon wrapped his right arm around Katherine's shoulder and kissed her forehead. "You'll get your Guinness, don't worry."

"So…" Elena said. "What's this surprise?"

"Come here," Damon said, walking toward the middle of the barn.

Curious, Elena followed behind Katherine and Damon. That's when she heard the horse rifling around in some hay. "You keep other horses out here?"

"Not usually," Damon said, "but this one was a special case."

Curiously, Elena walked ahead of them when she saw a horse peek its head out of a stall door. She looked like a palomino, and was most likely another one of the Salvatore's Thoroughbreds. She had a long white stripe down her nose. She held one ear forward and another back, as she seemed to be thinking about the three humans in the dimly lit barn.

"No way, she had a foal?" Elena asked when she got close enough to the stall. A little chocolate foal lay in a pile of hay near its mother's feet. She didn't get too close. She wasn't sure how the mother would react.

"Your mother bred Faith again?" Katherine asked. She didn't sound as surprised as Elena was sure she did. In fact, she actually sounded very unimpressed by the new baby, who seemed to be trying to stand up.

A look Elena couldn't quite describe passed between Damon and Katherine as she stepped away from him with a roll of her eyes. Damon scowled as Katherine pulled away, shoving his hands into his jeans as he walked up beside Elena and reached for Faith's nose. Elena bit the inside of her cheek, determined to stay uninvolved in whatever drama was going on between Damon and Katherine.

"I'll go wait in the car for you both," Katherine said.

"Is it a filly or a colt?" Elena asked as she looked inside of the stall, determined not to dwell too much on Katherine's behavior.

Damon looked at her gratefully as he reached for the stall door latch and pulled it open. Faith snorted but backed away from the door.

"It's a filly. I was going to ask you and Katherine to help me name her, but I guess just _you_ get to help if you want to."

Elena took a small step back. "Um, is it okay to be in there with them after they've just given birth?"

Chuckling, Damon walked forward and took Elena's hand, slowly walking her into the stall. The foal was on her feet now, both ears held forward as she looked at them. "It's perfectly fine," he said. "She was born earlier today."

Unable to help herself, Elena walked forward and held her hand out for the filly to sniff her hand. Faith ignored the three of them, far more interested in the hay on the ground and swatting her tail back and forth.

"Her fur is so soft," Elena said as she rubbed behind the filly's ears. She looked up at Damon and gave him a wide smile. "I've never seen a newborn horse—I mean I was around them when I was younger, but I only was ever really around for the riding part, and my horse wasn't ever bred that I know of."

Damon walked behind Elena and ran his fingers through the filly's short mane. He stood so close to Elena she could almost feel his chest behind her back. His warm breath tickled the side of her neck and the urge to lean back into him surprised her. Why would she do that? Elena nervously looked up at Damon and realized he smelled a lot like the horses he worked with all day long, and it was a smell she liked. She quickly looked back down at the foal as her face flushed at thoughts she didn't want to have about her roommate's boyfriend.

"I'd love to help you name her," Elena said, clearing her throat, "but this isn't the sort of thing we should jump to right away."

"Yeah?" Damon asked.

"Well, shouldn't we get to know her for a few days first?"

"I guess we should," Damon said. "But I wanted to let you see her now."

"Um, why didn't Katherine act a bit interested in her?"

The words were out of her mouth before she could think to keep her thoughts to herself. Damon sighed behind her as the filly shook her head and then did a little trot over to her mother.

"I'm not sure," Damon said. "I guess I'm just going to have to talk to her later."

"Oh," Elena said. Deciding she needed to change the subject, she crossed her arms and took a step away from Damon as she studied the foal. "I think we should wait to name her. You want to give her a good name, and not a bad one."

"Don't let me regret asking you," Damon said. "I'd ask Ric, and mom has told me to help name her this time. I don't think Bodacious Tatas is a good name."

Elena burst into laughter. "Oh my gosh, that's the worst—Did he _actually _suggest that as a name for her?"

Damon snorted in amusement. "That's Ric for you," he said. "You don't want to hear some of the other ideas he had."

Elena giggled. "Okay, well, I think that Diana should be a name you should consider for her. She seems to have a strong presence for such a little thing."

The filly was nursing now. She had wedged herself between her mother and the wall of the stall, and made Faith take a step to the side.

"Hmm," Damon said, staring at her with soft eyes. "We'll definitely consider that as a name. If you think of anything else let me know."

"Definitely," Elena said. "Well, um, I guess we should be going if you don't want to keep Katherine waiting."

—

What the hell was wrong with him? Damon thought as he pulled out of the campus parking lot. Katherine fiddled with her phone beside him in the passenger seat of the Camaro as he tried to figure out what it was about Elena Gilbert that was starting to attract him so much to her. He hadn't known the girl very long but she more than intrigued him, and he was almost mad at Katherine for even suggesting that he think about sleeping with her. Elena was too sweet to be pulled into the clusterfuck of drama with his girlfriend.

"What's got you into such a bad mood?" Damon asked after a few minutes.

"I'm fine," Katherine said. She looked up at him and shot him a small smile.

"Bullshit. 'I'm fine' is code word for 'you're in deep shit' with you," Damon said.

Katherine sighed and put her phone away. "It's just that you didn't tell me Faith was pregnant this time, and you usually just ask _me_ help you name the horses."

Damon eased his car to a stop at a light. Seriously? This is what she was upset about? He ran his fingers through his hair and fought the urge to laugh at her.

"Elena could use some friends, I think," Damon said. "I'm sure she has some on campus but she really wants to help with the horses." He shrugged. "I didn't think there would be any harm in her naming the filly."

"It's, just—you know what, I'm being stupid." Katherine shook her head at herself. She leaned over and put a quick kiss to Damon's lips. "I agree with you, Elena does need more friends. I think she's from a really small town. Did she have any name suggestions?"

"Diana," he said, "but she wants to wait to name the foal for a little bit."

"Diana is actually a good name," Katherine said. "Well, let's get to the bar," she said as the light turned green. "I think I might spend some time with Elijah at the bar."

And leave him to get really smashed with Alaric. Damon wasn't sure how he felt about the fact that his girlfriend wanted to go spend time with someone else when he was going to be there. When they first decided they would have an open relationship, Katherine had wanted it to all be very discreet. More and more, she was starting to drop the one rule she had asked him to put in place. Damon had laid everything else out.

Screw it; he wasn't going to let that of all things bother him. Katherine liked their arrangement and he wasn't going to do anything that would piss her off. She didn't like it when he showed jealousy when she was with someone else. It didn't happen very often but he almost wished that she would just have one other person she dated, not two or three like had been her pattern lately.

—

"Damon, I seriously don't know how you do the open relationship thing," Alaric said as they sat next to each other at the bar. They were drinking their usual—bourbon—as Katherine laughed and flirted with Elijah near a pool table. "How long have you been doing this?"

"We've had the open relationship about a year, two years total." Damon scowled when he realized his drink was nearly gone.

"I'm getting you more bourbon," Alaric said. He waved the bartender over.

"I was the one who asked for it to be open," Damon said. "It just seems like she has a much easier time doing this than I do."

"I think you should just go on a date yourself," Alaric said. "You don't seem to go on many of them."

Damon didn't really want to talk to his best friend about this, but Alaric _was _his best friend, and there wasn't really a way to avoid this conversation because he felt like he needed to have it with someone.

"I've been thinking about asking her to make it more serious," Damon said. "I try not to say anything to her about it but at the same time I'm getting damn tired of this. She's sleeping with my_ brother_, Ric."

Alaric's response to that was to take another drink of his own bourbon and shake his head.

"You should date more," Alaric said. "I don't know many women who would agree to this sort of thing, and I don't mean to sound like an ass, but you should take advantage of it."

Damon snorted. "Who am I going to take on a date? Andie Starr?"

Andie was a local reporter who seemed to always be sniffing around Damon's business. They slept together a few times when Damon and Katherine first started an open relationship, but once Andie asked him to leave Katherine for her, he was done with that, and he wasn't going to go in that direction again.

"Oh god no," Alaric said,"what about Rebekah?"

"Absolutely not," Damon said, fighting the urge to make a disgusted face. "She's slept with Stefan too."

"I almost think Stefan gets laid more than you do."

Damon glared at him, but didn't say anything.

"What about Katherine's roommate? She's very cute."

"Elena is too sweet to be dragged into open relationship drama," Damon said. "She's hot as hell, but that doesn't mean I want to sleep with her."

Alaric shrugged. "You need something else, Damon, if you're going to keep letting Katherine make all the rules with the relationship. Somehow, I don't think she'll agree to something monogamous if you ask her to go back to it."

Damon hated to admit it, but he knew that Alaric was right.

—

"So you're _sure_ we're not joining this club just because you have the hots for your roommate's boyfriend?"

Elena, Bonnie, and Caroline were on their way to the library for the first Equestrian Club meeting. Elena was very excited. She loved Caroline and Bonnie but Caroline didn't live on campus and Bonnie had started to spend time with other students who were anthropology majors. Bonnie's grandmother was an archeologist and so it hadn't been much of a surprise when she decided to choose anthropology as her major.

Elena rolled her eyes at Caroline. "No, that's not the _only _reason I'm going to join the Equestrian Club, Care."

"All right," Caroline said. "If you say so…whatever, I'm kind of excited we're doing this. I need something to do _other _than go crazy when your brother and my boyfriend are playing video games so loud it rattles my brain."

"I haven't ever really been around horses other than the few times there was a town event back home," Bonnie said. "Are you sure it's okay for me to join the club?"

"I think they give lessons," Elena said. "I know that there's another fee we need to pay on top of normal club dues, but you'll get to actually learn about the horses and I just think it's a great opportunity for you both."

"You're _sure _it's not just because you have the hots for this Damon guy?" Caroline probed again.

Elena laughed. "Stop it, Care," she said when she opened the library door. A large dry erase board had _Equestrian Club meeting, room 203 _written in large cursive letters. Elena immediately recognized it as Katherine's handwriting. "Katherine and Damon are both going to be there today and I would _really _appreciate it if you pulled back the reins on the teasing."

Bonnie and Caroline burst into giggles at the word "reins." Elena, realizing what she did seconds later, started to giggle too.

There weren't very many people in the small study room for the Equestrian Club meeting yet. Katherine excitedly waved Elena and her friends over, having saved seats for them. Damon sat next to her, and Rebekah sat on top of one of the tables with a large text book in her lap. A girl with short auburn hair wandered in a few seconds later with a boy with dark brown hair, and a blonde with hair down to her waist came in with Stefan.

"Lexi!" Katherine said as she stood up. She pulled the blonde into a hug while Stefan took a seat. "I can't believe we went a whole summer without talking to each other."

"I got busy," Lexi said. "I went concert hopping all summer."

"You'll have to tell me about it later," Katherine said as she stood up.

Alaric shuffled his way into the room. He didn't look so great, and Elena had to wonder if he was hung over. Katherine did tell her that he and Damon liked to drink a lot.

"Okay…well, there aren't as many people as I thought there would be, but that's okay. That's Alaric Saltzman," Katherine pointed to him, "he's our club sponsor. We only technically need five people to keep the club going, and I can understand how a lot of people might be scared of riding a horse," she said. "How about we go around the room and introduce one another? Elena, could you and your friends start? Start with your name, where you're from, and one of the reasons you love horses."

"Um, okay," Elena absolutely hated the introduction games that everyone in college seemed to be so fond of. "My name is Elena Gilbert. I'm going to declare a major in English; I just haven't yet because I don't know if it would be better for me to go the creative writing or technical writing route. I'm from Mystic Falls. I just love horses. I don't have a reason as to why."

"I'm Caroline Forbes!" Caroline chirped. "I'm from Mystic Falls too, and I'm not declared yet either."

Everyone around the room went around introducing themselves. Bonnie expressed her nervousness about riding. Klaus Mikaelson was there because his little sister—Rebekah—dragged him. Rose Christopher was from a family of horse breeders and her friend, Trevor, was there because he shared Rose's same passion for horses. Stefan had finally talked Lexi into coming just because, but she was excited about learning to ride.

"Well, I'm really glad to meet all of you," Katherine said. "I wish half of the equestrian club hadn't graduated last year, but what are you going to do? Damon, come here, baby."

Damon stood up and walked to the front of the room. Alaric was up there too, quietly watching everyone as he leaned against a bookshelf.

"I'm Damon Salvatore. My mother, Aberlie, owns the horse stables you are all going to be riding at. It took a lot of arguing and a few threats from my mom, but this year as long as you all help take care of the horses, you don't have to pay any additional fees."

"What?" Katherine asked. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Katherine squealed and jumped into Damon's arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. Elena nervously looked the other way because she'd been staring at Damon's eyes—and why was she doing that? Caroline smirked at her, and Elena realized she had seen her staring at him.

"Not a word," Elena whispered to her.

Caroline threw her hands up in mock surrender. "I wasn't going to say anything."

Katherine finally calmed down after a few seconds, and Damon seemed to be really grinning, satisfied with himself for the surprise he dropped on his girlfriend.

"So," Katherine said, clearing her throat. "You just have to pay club dues, and I haven't decided if they are ten or fifteen dollars this year, but that's something we can all hash out later. What I did want to talk to you guys about was a fair that is happening in a few weeks. I know there are a few of us who are experienced riders, and I'd like to ask those of you who are to consider entering a horse show. We're going to have barrel racing and jumping, and I think Aberlie is also going to set up the Shetland pony and a few other calmer horses so kids can ride. This weekend we're going to have a trail ride so you can get a feel for the horses at the stables."

"What kind of horses does your mother breed?" Rose asked Damon.

"She breeds Friesians and Thoroughbreds. We've also got a Paint and a Shetland pony."

"Have you ever shown a horse, Rose?" Katherine asked.

"No, I just like to ride," Rose smiled.

"Well, we do need another person to either jump or barrel race for the fair," Rebekah said. "Did I hear correctly when I heard you used to show, Elena?"

"She was really good!" Caroline said. "I couldn't help it, over the weekend after I went home, I kinda blackmailed Jenna into showing me old videos of you riding."

Elena wasn't going to win this, was she? She should have kept her mouth about ever being able to ride horses. "I'll think about it. I'd rather jump than barrel race, but I've done both before."

"We can hash those details out later too," Katherine said, "but this semester is going to be a fun one because you all seem like a great group."

Damon zoned out a little while Katherine talked with her group about horses some more. He normally would quietly sit in the back and talk to Alaric, but as soon as he was sure they didn't need him anymore, he bolted out of the library.

Bastard.

Since Damon had started seeing Katherine, he came to these meetings every time and they were never really that interesting. Katherine told them about the horses and answered questions for the students who didn't understand much about them (at least three more students wondered in, which not only made Katherine happy, but ecstatic because they admitted they knew nothing about horses). He didn't pay attention to the names of the new comers; instead, he became interested in watching Elena.

Damn Alaric.

He was the second person who suggested he do something with Elena, his girlfriend being the first. She hadn't brought it up, but Damon was sure the thought was probably still in the back of Katherine's mind because had she cared, she probably would have been glaring at him because of the blatant way he watched Elena. She didn't seem to notice, too caught up in the conversation about the horses and details about the fair and the random times Elena's friend, Caroline, leaned over and said something to her which made Elena gasp and swat her arm. If only he could sit over there, but he didn't want to raise suspicion around the new club members and he didn't want to make Elena uncomfortable.

"This was a really great meeting, everyone," Katherine said. "I wish we could stay and talk some more, but this is my first day volunteering at a clinic off campus and I need to get going." Most of the students started to fan out of the room, and she headed over to where Damon was. Katherine asked him quietly.

"Could I talk to you a second before we leave?" Elena was still in her seat gathering together a few of her things and damn if he still couldn't stop staring at her. "Sure, what's up babe?" Damon said, finally snapping out of it and focusing on his girlfriend.

Katherine took his hand and pulled him closer to her, running her hand up and down his arm. "Elijah finally asked me to go on an actual date with him."

Damon felt his shoulders become tense immediately. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, he's going to take me out to a nice restaurant."

"Isn't it enough that you're _already_ fucking my brother?" he hissed out. "Are you _trying _to develop a harem of men?"

Katherine gasped and took a step back from him. "Damon, you know that's not what I'm trying to do."

"I thought we weren't going to actually _date _other people."

They shouldn't be having this conversation here, Damon knew, but he couldn't fucking help it. One of his rules had been no actual dates with anyone. Maybe he was a little intimidated because Katherine seemed to like Elijah so much, but he wasn't going to actually tell Katherine that. No, he'd let himself get upset that she seemed to have so many men lined up who wanted to see her. "I can't keep track of how many guys you've been with anymore."

"I'm not having this conversation with you when my roommate is still here."

Damon turned to look at Elena again, and her big brown eyes made her look like a doe caught in headlights.

"Oh, don't mind me," Elena said, slinging her cross-body over her shoulder. "I'm just going to get going."

"Don't rush out of here. You can stay," Katherine said, turning to Damon. "_I'm_ going. I don't have time for petty bullshit."

"Real mature, Katherine!" Damon huffed out as she grabbed her bags and stormed out of the room.

"It was nice seeing you again…" Elena said awkwardly. "But I should probably—"

"Don't be silly," Damon said. "I'm sorry you had to see that."

Elena shook her head and adjusted her backpack. "It's okay. She's—um, going on a date?"

"Yeah," Damon said. "I don't even know why I let that bother me anymore. It shouldn't."

"Okay, well…in other news, I was thinking on names for the foal."

Bless Elena. Damon could hug her for changing the subject because he had been on the verge of going after Katherine and fighting with her about the whole Elijah thing again. Doing that wouldn't get him anywhere with her, so the distraction was very welcome.

"Oh? Care to share?"

"Well, I obviously kind of like mythology, and I decided she looks like an Epona. I haven't heard that name very often for a horse except for my brother's Zelda video game."

Damon burst out laughing because Stefan was a big fan of the Legend of Zelda. "Epona, huh?"

"She looked like a little goddess in training," Elena tried to joke. Instead it came out as an awkward giggle. "But it's not just that. Epona was a Celtic who was considered the Great Mare, and she was also a sign of fertility. I sort of love Google too much…but I thought it fitting."

"I actually like it," Damon said with a wide grin. "So you researched the name?"

Elena nodded as they started walking toward the exit of the room. "I had a few others in mind,but I didn't like any of them as much."

"I'll run it past Mom," Damon said, "but I'm sure she'll love it."

She beamed at him, and his heart jumped. He wondered again if he should maybe take Elena out, but then decided against it. He wasn't sure what would happen if Elena agreed and how Katherine would react to the news of him taking her roommate out on a date.

"Well, um, I need to go back to my room to do some homework. I'll see you around, okay?" Elena said.

"Sure thing," Damon nodded, watching her as she exited the room, the way her hips swayed back and forth.

Damn.

He was _really_ starting to like this girl.

—

Notes: First of all, I got past that writer's block I had with HOH, but I have a _lot _of writing projects going on right now, so updates may slow down. It's not a matter of me finding the time to write or being able to work on the stories—I churn out chapters like _crazy _when I sit down to write—it's just that a few things are coming up in this month and November (ask Cher Sue, lmao, she's on my FB friend's list and keeps threatening to steal my muse).

I am participating in National Novel Writing Month next month, and due to a lot of bitching and griping and "DOESN'T COUNT!" from one of my friends I do this challenge with every year because I wanted to start the _All This Time _sequel, I'm going to start writing something original. I have a few ideas but I really need to sit down and work these ideas out, though I _do _know it's going to be another romance like Cheap Guitars (I've decided that's my niche as a writer) and probably in first person since I need a break from third. I'm gonna work as much as I can on HOH and CG, but _don't _get upset if I don't post updates for a while, please. I'm also writing a short story for the "I Will Remember You" marathon a lot of Buffy/Angel shippers participate in every year (Taaroko is writing something too) and that has to be finished by October 21.

But anyway, when this crazy dies down I'll probably start updating regularly again. I won't really work on anything else during NaNo unless I somehow finish within the middle of the month (done it before).

And oh! I submitted _All This Time _to Kindle Worlds and it's under review right now. I'll let you know if it gets accepted, it'll be published under my real name, Mara A. Miller. I should know in a couple days. If you follow me on twitter, anglcdmn1986, you'll probably see a million tweets about it if it happens.

Please be sure to leave a review. I love hearing from all of you!


	6. Chapter Five

Thank you, Kate, for betaing, and Cher Sue for pre-reading.

Thumper and Winnie send bunches of plot bunny ideas and kisses to you both.

Chapter Five

Elena had an extra spring in her step as she looked around the picnic tables near the student food court outside. She was meeting Bonnie and Caroline for lunch before her next class. She had something she couldn't wait to tell them.

"Elena, over here!"

Elena turned quickly, spotting Caroline waving from atop a picnic table. Elena waved back, quickly making her way through the busy throng of students.

"I've got some awesome news," Elena said as she sat next to Bonnie, who had a text book propped against her backpack as she ate a sandwich.

"Really?" Bonnie asked. "What news?"

The distinct sound of an Angry Bird flying through the air came from Caroline's phone as Elena grinned brightly at her friends.

"Do you remember how I landed a job interview at Common Ground?" she asked.

"Yeah," Caroline said as the sound of the bird crashing loudly into some squealing pigs played. "Wasn't that today?"

"Yep! I got the job," Elena beamed. "I start working this weekend on Sunday for a few hours."

"That's so awesome," Bonnie said.

"I'm totally coming to see you to get a latte and study," Caroline said, setting her phone down.

"I wish I wasn't taking so many classes. I'd find a job too," Bonnie sighed.

"I still think you're crazy for signing up for eighteen hours," Caroline said. "In fact, I can't believe you tried to get approved for more."

"I want to graduate early if I can," Bonnie said with a shrug.

"I don't doubt you," Elena said.

"Are we still going on a trail ride this weekend with the Equestrian Club?" Caroline asked.

"Absolutely," Elena said. "I think Katherine will give us all a ride if you don't want to drive to the farm."

"We'll see." Caroline picked up her phone again. With a swipe of her finger, the sound of another bird catapulting into the air played. "Is it okay if I sleep over in someone's dorm the night before? The commute back and forth is really starting to kill me."

"You should just move on campus already," Bonnie said. "You'd be doing yourself a favor!"

Caroline groaned. "I don't think I could give up my car. I don't see how the two of you do it."

"Everything is really close by," Bonnie said.

"Katherine keeps offering to let me borrow her car if I need it, or to give me a ride. I haven't yet, but the only time Katherine ever gives me a ride is when we're going to see Damon and the horses."

"Room changes are next week," Bonnie said. "You could move in!"

"I'm going to think about it," Caroline said, "but I can't imagine having to live without my car."

"It wouldn't be that bad," Elena said. "I'm sure Katherine wouldn't mind giving you a ride if you really needed to go somewhere, and Damon would even help."

Caroline and Bonnie both gave her a look.

"What?" Elena asked, trying to figure out why her best friends were suddenly looking at her as if she had grown a second head.

"You're talking about Damon an _awful _lot this past week," Caroline said, almost in a sing-song.

Elena laughed at her and rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. He's just a friend."

"Are you _sure_ that's what it is?" Bonnie asked. "I'm a little worried because the whole open relationship thing Katherine has with him is strange…"

"He's my roommate's boyfriend. I've bonded with him over his horses. He's got one that he's rescued, and another just gave birth to a filly. Of course I'm spending time with Damon too."

Caroline leaned down real low. "You _totally _have a crush on him though. Have you thought about having sex with him yet?"

If the sudden rush of heat to her cheeks was any indication, Elena knew she was probably bright red at Caroline's insinuation. Of course she thought about it. Damon was hot as hell, but Elena didn't want to cross that sort of line, no matter how open Katherine's relationship with her boyfriend might or might not have been.

"I don't know _why _everyone is so intent on having me find someone and get laid," Elena said, "that's really what this is about, isn't it?"

"Elena, you're flushing red, you're wearing conservative shirts, and your muscles are so tense I wouldn't be shocked if you have a million knots in your shoulders," Caroline said, making Elena self-conscious as she continued to speak. "I _know _you need to get laid because we've been friends since we were, like, in diapers. You don't have to not date, and you and Matt have been broken up for over a year now."

"I think what Caroline is trying to say," Bonnie said, "is that we just want to see you happy and college is a time to have fun and meet new boys. I personally think you shouldn't go there with Damon."

"Why the hell shouldn't she?" Caroline asked.

Elena grabbed her backpack and jumped up from the table, certain she was blushing even more. "Okay, this conversation has been declared 'Too Awkward'. I'm going now. I'll see you guys in class later."

—

"Damon is _totally _looking at you," Caroline said in a whisper while Katherine explained some of the basics about taking care of a horse.

"So?" Elena said as she tried to focus on Katherine. "What does it matter? We're_ only_ friends." She waved to him, and he waved back. He had Blue Moon tied to the fence as he saddled him, where three other horses were also lined up.

She wanted to listen to her because while she was confident in her ability to still be able to take care of and ride a horse, she wanted to be sure she knew what she was doing. Caroline didn't seem to be paying attention at all as she wondered if Rose and Trevor were secretly dating, and why Stefan and Elijah kept sending these strange looks Katherine's way. Bonnie had gotten tired of it after fifteen minutes and moved to the other side of the group. They'd been at the stables for at least thirty minutes.

"Elena?" Katherine said.

Jumping when Katherine suddenly addressed her, Elena snapped her gaze to Katherine's direction. She worried she might be in trouble for talking to Caroline. Katherine made it very clear from the beginning of this specific Equestrian Club meeting that she didn't want anyone to interrupt while she was talking about the horses. Elena didn't blame her, horses were delicate creatures that needed a specific sort of care, and since it seemed like most of the students who joined the club had no experience with horses what so ever, they _needed _to know what to do when taking care of them.

"Yeah?" Elena asked.

"You actually don't need to be here for this part. I'm pretty sure you know how to saddle a horse and to not give them molded hay."

Elena squeaked out a nervous giggle as she nodded at her roommate. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure I know not to do that."

"Why don't you go saddle up Applejax? Rebekah obviously couldn't make it today, so if you want to take him around the jumping course before the trail ride, feel free to."

"That sounds like a great idea," Elena said, smiling brightly.

"_Elena," _Caroline hissed, "don't leave me here!"

Elena gave Caroline a, "are-you-serious- look?" as she started to walk away from the group.

"Couldn't resist talking to me, could you?" Damon asked her in amusement as she timidly walked up to him.

Were those butterflies dancing around in her stomach?

Elena made peace with herself earlier that week. Damon was hot. She was allowed to think he was hot. She even might have had a steamy dream about him that had her blushing like mad the next morning, and the thought of it had her blushing now as she tried not to rehash the details of the dream with Damon standing right next to her.

"I couldn't resist Blue Moon," she smirked at him as she walked up to the Paint, who snorted in what she could only imagine was frustration as he tried to reach down for some grass.

"Ow,"Damon said. "You sure know how to bruise a man's ego."

Elena gave a soft giggle as she reached for Blue Moon's nose to pet him. "Are you both going on the trail ride with us?"

"Yeah," Damon said, as he put a pad onto Blue Moon's back and smoothed it out. "He's looking a lot stronger and it'll be good for him to stretch his legs."

"You know?" Elena asked as she brushed back some of Blue Moon's forelock with her hand. "His eyes sort of match yours."

She wasn't even thinking when she said it. It sort of all just came spewing out of her mouth before she knew it and she turned bright red when Damon simply stared at her.

"I—um, well, not that I stare into your eyes a lot or anything but I've noticed them and the shade is just sort of almost the same and—"

Damon barked out a laugh and Elena's cheeks turned so hot she was sure she was the color of a bright red tomato.

"That's one of the reasons I named him Blue Moon," Damon said.

"Katherine told me the day we met," Elena said. Blue Moon nudged her arm and seemed to be sniffing loudly. "What, boy?" she asked.

"Ah, I think he wants some sugar cubes or fruit," Damon said.

"I see," Elena said. "You shouldn't spoil him so much."

Damon reached into his back pocket. Elena briefly wondered what it would be like to grab his ass, and then she looked down quickly and covered her face in a sheet of hair as she turned bright red. Where were all these Wonton Sex Goddess thoughts coming from?

"You all right?"

"I'm fine," Elena said, clearing her throat.

"My mother really loved the name Epona, by the way."

"She did?" Elena asked. "I'm glad! How is Epona doing?"

"She's playing with her mother right now out in one of the fields, maybe we can go see them later after the trail ride."

Elena felt giddy inside just at the thought of seeing the little foal again. "Okay, that sounds awesome."

—

Damon held Blue Moon back a little behind the group of equestrian students. Some of the more experienced riders, such as Rose and Katherine, rode ahead of the group. Elena rode Applejax slowly. Caroline and Bonnie, along with some of the other inexperienced kids, stayed behind so his mother could give them riding lessons.

Blue Moon seemed to be enjoying the ride himself. He wanted to move far faster than a trot and Damon had to consistently pull back the reins when he tried to do so. This was a good sign, though; it meant he was starting to feel stronger. Blue Moon would definitely be a good barrel racer if they managed to find someone who wanted to ride him.

"You're going awfully slow on that horse, Elena," Damon called ahead of him. In fact, the group was much further ahead than the both of them.

Blue Moon snorted a little bit. Damon rolled his eyes, and gave in, letting Blue Moon trot a little further until he was nose to nose with Applejax. Sneaky bastard, Blue Moon just wanted to sniff Elena.

"Stop that," Damon said, pulling a bit on his reins.

Elena laughed. "He just wanted to say hi. I think he's a little jealous I'm riding Applejax."

The Frisian himself seemed to eye Blue Moon a little and Damon rolled his eyes. "These two are clowns. I caught them splashing each other with water from their trough this morning."

"Is that so?" Elena asked. She patted Applejax on the neck. "He's such a patient boy. I almost can't believe I'm riding a horse again."

"Do you think you'll be up to jumping him at the festival?"

Elena shrugged. "I never _actually _showed a horse in a competition before even though I considered it. Barrel racing was fun but I never really had that much interest in it even though my mom was trying to get me to enter a competition before she died."

"Ah," Damon said as he looked forward to see where the rest of the group for the trail ride was.

They were quite a ways up and somehow Applejax and Blue Moon had slowed down to a steady, lazy stroll. They were on one of the more heavily wooded trails set up on his mother's property. It was a cooler day as fall was starting to set in, but none of the leaves from the trees had started to turn colors yet.

"Well, I guess I could try jumping Applejax, I already said I wanted to," Elena said. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to keep going back and forth like this."

"No," Damon said. "I get it. Can I ask what happened to your parents?"

"It happened in a car accident. They went over Wickery Bridge in Mystic Falls."

"Oh, damn," Damon said. "I –"

"Don't say you're sorry, or that you wish it hadn't happened to me. Thankfully my brother and I or my brother weren't in the car with them when it happened." She said everything so fast Damon could hardly catch what she said.

"I wasn't going to say anything like that," Damon said, "but I will say it sucks."

Elena shrugged. "I don't want to say I'm over it now, I'll always miss my parents, but my aunt Jenna is there for me and my brother. She's Mom's younger sister and she was there for us without question when we needed her." Elena paused for a second and then shook her head adorably. "God, we shouldn't let this be a morbid conversation. Let's change the subject."

"All right," Damon said, "hit me. What's your favorite music? Please don't tell me it's that girly pop shit like Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne. I get enough of that nightmare with Katherine when she's in my Camaro."

Elena burst into giggles. "I've noticed she likes that a lot. She even still listens to the Backstreet Boys."

"Oh god, don't say that in front of the horses," Damon said with a shudder. "I think Rhiannon actually likes that crap. Katherine plays it sometimes during her shows."

Elena burst into giggles. "I will shamelessly rock out to "Girlfriend" by Avril and The Backstreet Boys _do_ have their merits, but I actually sort of got into a Godsmack phase."

Damon had to think about that for a second. "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see your music library."

"I blame my little brother," Elena said. "He went through a phase where he listened to a lot of hard music and smoked a lot of pot. Thankfully we got him to stop it, but the music rubbed off on me a little."

"How old is your brother?" Damon asked her. "I think I'd kick Stefan's ass if he ever did something like that."

"He's only seventeen. I'm the oldest."

Damon held up a hand for her and they high fived while the horses snorted and swished their tails as they walked. "Being oldest rocks."

"It does!" Elena giggled. She had the cutest damn giggle.

They talked for a while longer, and Damon learned some of her favorite shows were Firefly and Boy Meets World, she and Bonnie and Caroline had been friends since they were in preschool, and she had an ex-boyfriend named Matt who was still at home keeping an eye on her little brother for her. Damon liked listening to Elena talk about herself and even realized they had a lot more in common than he would have ever thought. In fact, he shared more in common with Elena than he did with his own girlfriend. He almost wondered how Katherine and Elena got along so well. She didn't seem to care too much about the girly shit Katherine always put too much emphasis on, and it even seemed like that ex-boyfriend of hers didn't know how to take a woman on a proper date.

"It was just one of those situations where we were really good friends, and we felt like we owed it to each other to be more, you know?"

Damon nodded. "I know exactly what you mean. I actually tried to date Stefan's friend, Lexi, once. We used to be tight too."

"Oh," Elena said. "Used to be?"

Damon shrugged. "We slept together and then I met Katherine. It's not something I like to dwell on too much."

Elena shrugged and reached forward to pat Applejax on his shoulder. "I guess things like that just happen sometimes." She groaned as she saw the group of riders huddled around each other at the far end of the trail. "Are we really done with the trail ride so soon?"

Damon looked ahead, surprised when he saw the older barn where Epona was born. Had they really been on the trail ride for an hour already? It had passed too quickly. He didn't want it to end because he was enjoying Elena's company so much.

"Well, it was a lot of fun talking to you," Elena said. "Thanks for hanging back with me."

Damon shrugged. "It was my pleasure. In fact, I almost don't want to stop hanging out. Are you doing anything tonight?"

"Um, I don't think I have any plans."

"Do you want to spend some time with me, Alaric, Katherine and a few of our friends tonight? We'll probably just drink a little," Damon said.

"But I'm not twenty one," Elena said.

"Please don't tell me you're actually one of those girls who tries to follow the rules—"

"Oh, I'm absolutely not one of those girls. At least, the old Elena wasn't anyway… I just don't like to drink too often."

"You'll be around friends," Damon said. "Caroline and Bonnie can even stay if they want to."

Elena smiled that cute damn smile again. "Okay, it sounds like fun."

—

Elena was starting to regret agreeing to spend time with Damon, Katherine, and their friends. Caroline and Bonnie had decided to go home for the night back at the dorms, claiming they felt nasty after spending the whole day with horses. Elena, being Elena, thought they were being silly and overly girly, but Caroline and Bonnie had never spent as much time around horses as she had. Elena was a little surprised when, as she and the rest of Damon and Katherine's friends piled into the den of the Salvatore house, Aberlie came inside and gave them two twenty-four packs of Budweiser and a bottle of rum and told them that as long as they promised not to drive after drinking too much, they could stay there as long as they wanted.

"I'm utterly bored," Rebekah announced from the couch beside Katherine, who was openly displaying affection to Elijah right in front of Damon. "We should play a drinking game."

Alaric snorted from his spot on a love seat where he played a video game with Stefan. "I'm really too old to hang out with you kids. I should get going."

"Don't you dare," Bree, a black girl who had showed up later once the party started to move into full swing, said, "but I do agree. The party is a little dead."

"But what are we going to do?" Andie, another girl who had shown up, asked. "I'm perfectly fine drinking and staring at Damon all night. I almost want to write an article about the Equestrian Club and feature a picture of you on it in the paper."

Elena looked at him in amusement when she saw him wince a little. She'd been curious about whether or not he ever tested the bounds of his open relationship with Katherine as he wasn't as open about it as she was, but it seemed he had at one point. Katherine didn't even flinch at the blatant flirtation on the other girl's part.

"There's no need for that," Damon said.

"Well, you don't have to be plastered on the front page or anything," Andie pried sweetly.

"You know what we should do?" Katherine asked. "You're all going to really laugh at me because this feels so _high school_, but we should play spin the bottle."

Elena flushed red at the mention of the game as she looked around the room. Damon, Alaric, Stefan, and Elijah were all very attractive but Elijah and Alaric worked at the college and after what she saw a few weeks ago against her dresser with Stefan she didn't want to even think about kissing him because it gave her the shudders. Damon, on the other hand…

"That's stupid," Elena said, feeling like she needed to interject her opinion when Andie and Rebekah immediately agreed.

Stefan shrugged. "It's just kissing," he said. "We're all friends."

"We should have another rule though," Bree said. "If a girl spins and it lands on another girl, they should kiss, and the same for guys."

Alaric snorted. "Yep, I'm out of here," he said, standing. "I'm too old for this shit. Good luck playing with the kids, Damon."

"Sit your ass down," Damon said to Alaric. "You know what Mom said."

"I love your mother, Damon," Alaric said, "but I think I can make the twenty minute walk back to my house."

"Absolutely not," Elijah said as Alaric walked out of the den with a nod towards Damon. "If I want to kiss you, Katherine, I'll just do it."

Elena simply gaped at them when Elijah kissed Katherine right in front of Damon and Stefan.

Damon snorted from his spot against the wall as he drank a beer. "That's definitely not an issue for anyone…"

"What is _that_ supposed to mean?" Katherine asked a few seconds later with a scowl.

Damon shrugged. Stefan was giving Katherine the look of a hurt puppy dog. Elena quickly downed the rest of her third beer that night, feeling like she hadn't been drinking enough. The sudden tension in the room between Katherine and the three men became too much for her and she stood.

"I, um, need some fresh air," Elena said as she stood quickly.

"Whoa, boozy," Damon said as he caught her to steady her. "Are you okay?"

Elena smiled at him. "I'm okay. Like I said, I just need fresh air."

She also might have had a few shots of rum with Katherine earlier in the night, but Elena didn't care about this as she quickly made a beeline for the front door in the same direction Alaric had gone earlier when he made his exit.

It was a cool night and the slight breeze felt good against her skin as soon as she was outside. It was a little on the chilly side, and Elena suddenly wished she'd thought to bring a jacket, but that didn't stop her when she headed toward the stables. She'd rather spend time with the horses than stuck in the middle of a love rectangle where the Salvatore brothers were glaring daggers at Elijah, who was obviously one of Katherine's newest lovers. Elena guessed that date went very well.

She wondered how the hell Katherine did that, but she wasn't going to ask her. It was obvious Stefan and Damon weren't comfortable with it at all. Hadn't Katherine said something about trying to keep what she did with other guys from Damon so jealousy issues wouldn't arrive?

Elena didn't know, and she realized she didn't give a damn. She just hated that it seemed like Damon was starting to hate the way his girlfriend acted around other men. He was stupid for ever asking her for an open relationship in the first place if he was going to feel that way, anyhow.

She had to stop thinking about all of it, she told herself, as she stopped by the fence near the barn. Epona and her mother hadn't been put back in the stables because Aberlie felt like Isobel needed a little leg room to move around for the night and it wasn't healthy to always keep the horses cooped up in the stables.

"You should probably have something to keep you warm," a velvety voice said as something warm was draped over her shoulders.

Elena jumped as her hand flew to her heart. "Oh geez, you scared me."

Damon chuckled. "You flew out of the house so fast I didn't know what to think," he said, leaning against the fence beside her.

"Things were just getting a little weird…" Elena admitted.

"Between Katherine and her harem of men?" Damon asked. "Yeah, I can see that."

"Don't talk about it like that," Elena said, wondering where the sudden urge to defend her roommate came from. "I can't believe she wanted to play a stupid kissing game."

Damon snorted in laughter. "Ah, I see," he teased her, "that's why you fled from the room so fast. You're scared of kissing someone." He paused for a second as he seemed to think about what he wanted to say next.

"You're ridiculous," Elena said with a roll of her eyes. "I'm not afraid of kissing anyone."

"No, I know what it is now, you're just afraid of kissing _me,_" he said with a waggle of his eyebrows as he leaned closer to her. "Don't worry, I don't bite."

In a sudden mood to challenge him, Elena leaned forward close enough that she could smell the faint scent of bourbon on his breath, and their noses touched just barely. His blue eyes widened a little, but he didn't move his head away from hers.

"You're still ridiculous," she said, turning quickly and walking toward the stables, tightening the blanket closer together.

Damon cleared his throat a few seconds later as he fell in line with her steps. "What do you say to checking on the other horses?"

"I wanted to say goodnight to Blue Moon, actually," she said a few seconds later as Damon opened the stable door. She was blushing, damn it. She pulled the blanket up close to her cheeks so he couldn't see.

"Yeah," Damon said, "he might like that."

"I wouldn't mind giving him a kiss goodnight either," she teased.

Damon and Elena looked at each other quickly, alarmed, once they heard a horse moaning in pain. Elena dropped the blanket to the ground as she ran to Blue Moon's stall.

"Damon, he shouldn't be lying down and looking at his stomach like that, should he?"

"No," he answered, "he shouldn't. Something's wrong."

—

I'm about to start working on chapter six, so I decided to go ahead and post this chapter now. I've making sure I'm covering all my bases by saying that I'm participating in NaNoWriMo this year and telling you guys that you may not see any updates on this for a month. Please don't freak out. When I can't actively write on the new novel, I'll be sitting down to outline during work if I'm on a project that doesn't get very many respondents (since I'm an at-home market research interviewer).

Hehe, things are gonna start getting really interesting in that new chapter.

Go follow me on twitter if you want to, yo. My name on there is anglcdmn1986. I post a lot when I'm bored working, live tweet sometimes during TVD, and have conversations with my old high school friends about knitting penis sweaters.


	7. Chapter Six

Please note: I've had horses, but they never got sick on us, and mom sold my horse, Red (Blue Moon the name of an actual stallion we owned once), when I was sixteen because she got pissed at me when I went partying with a few friends despite her protests. Red's mother died of old age when I was about nineteen. I'm writing this purely from research I did on Wikipedia, and the anthropology training I had in college is screaming "NOOO NOT VALID ACADEMIC SOURCE!" but this is fiction and therefore I'm asking for a little bit of leeway on the realism of the story.

Thanks for the beta Kate!

Cher, sorry I was like, too impatient to wait for you to pre-read. I wanted to post this before I deleted the whole damn thing XD

—

Chapter Six

"Hey, Moon buddy," Damon said as he quietly walked into his horse's stall. "What's wrong?"

The horse responded with a moan in pain as he continued to look at his stomach in concern, his ears flat as he swished his tail.

"Wait," Elena said. "Is it safe for you to go in there when he's not feeling good?"

"I'm more concerned about him than I'm concerned about myself," Damon said as he leaned down to carefully stroke Blue's nose. He quickly reached down to his pockets for his phone. "Damn. I left my cell phone in the house. I need to call his vet."

Elena was in the stall leaning down next to him before he could stop her, her blanket on the ground near the door. She held out her phone. "Use mine. He looks like he's got an upset stomach. It couldn't be colic, could it?"

"You spent a lot more time around horses than you're letting on," Damon said to her.

Elena shrugged. "I'm also on Wikipedia a lot. You don't think he was given anything bad to eat, do you?"

Damon was trying his damnedest not to panic. Blue Moon had been through a lot already and the last thing he needed was a life-threatening condition like colic. He'd been a little buzzed from drinking with everyone but that was quickly wearing off as he looked at Blue Moon, who suddenly stood up.

"Elena, get out of the way," he said, reaching down and yanking her up by her hand as he backed up against the wall. She stumbled forward with a yelp and he stabilized her with an arm around her waist.

She looked up at him with those big doe eyes of hers and Damon gulped, realizing he could see the top of her breasts peak slightly through her shirt as some of her hair fell into her face. She gulped as her gaze fell to his lips and Damon realized just _how _close he held her.

Blue Moon groaned in pain and the moment was broken. Damon quickly let her go and Elena jumped back as if he'd burned her.

"I've got to, uh, call the vet," he said, nearly stuttering as he practically tripped over his words.

"Okay," Elena said. "I'm… I'll check his food, and see if I can figure out what might have made him feel bad."

"I'd rather you stay out of his stall," Damon said.

"Well if it's colic I'm worried he might thrash around," she said a bit argumentatively, her tone laced with worry as she quickly looked at Blue Moon. Elena gently eased her way around Blue while Damon swore under his breath and walked out of the stall to call his vet. She went through his grain first, making sure nothing was wet or that no bugs were in it. It seemed fine. His water was clear.

"Son of a bitch!" Damon yelled from outside the stall.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked as Blue Moon stretched out, like he needed to pee, but nothing happened.

Damon came back into the stall. "Dr. Fitzgerald is on vacation. I totally forgot. He does look like he's showing colic signs. We need to get this looked at as soon as possible."

"Shit," Elena said as she grabbed a handful of hay. "There's mold in this."

"What?" Damon hissed as he walked to the back of the stall. "This can kill him if he ate it."

Elena quickly grabbed her phone from his hand, tapping a few times until she found her flashlight app. "It looks like he threw most of the bad hay on the ground but he still could have had some of it."

"Fuck, he needs a vet _now_, Elena," Damon said. "I have to go wake up Mom and get Katherine."

"Go get them," Elena said. "I'll stay here with him."

"You probably shouldn't," he said just as Blue started to bend his front legs in what Elena could only assume was an attempt to lie down. "I'm hoping we can get a hold of one of the other vets Mom has on call."

"It's okay," Elena said. "I want to keep an eye on him in case anything else happens."

Damon raked his hand over his face. "Alright. Could you take everything but his water out of his stall?"

"I actually might take him out so he can stretch a little, if that's okay."

"Yeah, sure, whatever you feel like will help him," Damon said, clearly distressed over his horse.

"Hey," Elena said, reaching out for his hand before she could second guess herself. "He's going to be okay." She could just see the worried look on his face. Damon loved Blue Moon.

Damon squeezed her hand back, nodded, and left the stall.

—

"Mom," Damon said, knocking on his parent's bedroom door.

He was trying not to panic and become pissed off at the same time. When he came back into the house, Stefan told him that Katherine decided to go to Elijah's apartment for the night. Damon figured she at least cared about his horse, and so he tried to call her to let her know what was going on, but she wasn't answering her phone.

"I swear you'd think the damn world was ending with the way you're bangin' on my door, son," Aberlie said as she opened the bedroom door. Damon hadn't realized he was knocking so loudly. Her black hair stuck up at weird angles as she pulled her robe tighter around her waist. "What's wrong?"

"Blue is sick," Damon said. "Dr. Fitzgerald is on vacation. Elena and I were outside talking because she wanted to see the horses again—"

"I'm firing that damn vet," Aberlie growled as she opened the bedroom door wider.

"What's going on?" Giuseppe muttered from the bed.

"Horse shit," Aberlie said as she slipped her feet into a pair of pink slippers. "Go back to sleep baby, you have a big meeting in the morning."

"I think he's showing signs of colic," Damon said as soon as Aberlie shut the bedroom door. "Elena found mold in his hay."

"I told those stupid kids to be careful when they were feeding the horses," Aberlie said in what Damon realized was a reference to the Equestrian Club. "Come on, I have a list of vets in my office in the barn."

"Aren't you going to get dressed?" Damon asked.

Aberlie looked down at her robe, the same pink color of her slippers. She also wore a pair of white pajama pants. "Horse is sick. That's more important. You been drinking?"

"Anything I drank wore off as soon as I realized Blue is sick," Damon said as he and his mother started walking down the hallway.

"Is your little party still here?"

"Katherine and Elijah left, Stefan is passed out on the couch, and Alaric went home. Elena is with Blue."

"What's the damn point in letting y'all drink here if you don't _actually _stay the night?" Aberlie said with a grumble.

—

"It's okay, Blue," Elena said softly as she ran her hand along Blue Moon's back softly. She had him near a trough on a lead rope in an attempt to get him to drink some water. He kept dipping his head down like he wanted to drink, but he wouldn't actually do it.

"Son of a bitch," Damon said as he stormed into the barn.

"What's wrong?" Elena asked.

He sighed as he walked over to the both of them and leaned against the wall of the barn. "Mom can't find a vet right now. Has he taken a drink yet?"

Elena shook her head. "No, he hasn't," she said. "But I called June, the owner of the horse I used to ride. She recently got remarried and her husband is a vet, and—"

Elena gasped when Damon suddenly grabbed her by the waist and then crashed his lips onto hers, completely taken by surprise. His lips were warm, and soft against hers.

"What's the point in—Oh, Christ on a cracker," came Aberlie's voice. Elena pushed Damon away. "We're having a horse emergency, son."

Elena cleared her throat as she nervously looked at Damon. "I called the owner of the horse I used to ride. Her husband is a vet, and they're coming over."

"Good," Aberlie said. She turned around and walked right back into the barn.

As soon as they were alone again, Damon ran a hand over his hair. "Shit, Elena, I –"

"We had a little bit to drink and we're emotionally stressed about Blue Moon," Elena rationalized, afraid she might grab him and kiss him back if she looked at him. Instead she focused on the horse, who had walked away from the water trough and seemed to be trying to find a place to lie down. "Don't worry about it."

An hour and a half later, Damon and Elena were sitting on the ground against Blue Moon's stall next to each other while they waited for Dr. Marsh to examine him. Aberlie rested against a hay bale across from them while Elena tried not to doze off onto Damon's shoulder. They hadn't talked about the fact that he kissed her, not once, even though Elena kept thinking about it. She wasn't going to let herself analyze it to death, and she wasn't going to let her friendship with him get weird either. Katherine had made it clear several times the past few weeks that she was in an open relationship with him. If Elena was going to be honest with herself, it felt good to know he at least was attracted to her, if the kiss had been any indication.

"Hey," Damon said softly, reaching for the blanket and tugging it up to her shoulders for her. "You don't have to stay out here with us. You can go sleep in my old room if you're tired."

"I'm too worried about Blue Moon," Elena said.

"I'm impressed you found a vet for us so fast," Damon said. "Now that he's got help, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"I hope so," Elena said.

"I'm just thankful you found someone," Aberlie spoke up. "Poor Blue's been through so much. I want to kill the person who gave him that hay. Do you have any idea who it was?"

"Does it matter, Mom?" Damon asked. "We just need to go through the hay and make sure nothing else is bad."

"We'll do that after we're sure Blue is going to be okay."

A little more time passed. June, a small green-eyed blonde in her late fifties, came out at some point to talk with Elena and catch up a bit, but she was back in the stall helping with Blue, and after a bit of arguing, Damon managed to convince Elena to lay her head against his shoulder. She liked it. She didn't want to move.

Damn it, she thought, she was in trouble. She couldn't wrap her head around the fact that he was actually another woman's boyfriend even though they were in an open relationship. Katherine had practically offered him to her on a silver platter, but the fact that he was in a relationship with her roommate just made Elena want to step away no matter how much everything else kept screaming at her to give in and stop being so scared to do anything about her feelings for him.

Maybe she did drink too much if she thought she was developing feelings for him.

"I think he's got a little blockage, and that he didn't actually eat any of the mold you found in the hay," Dr. Martin said, finally coming out of Blue Moon's stall. Elena, who had just been on the brink of sleep, jumped at the sound of his voice. "While that is a problem, I'm going to try to take care of the blockage by giving him some laxatives and pain medicine and if he doesn't pass whatever it is in the next few hours he might need surgery."

"Will he be fine other than that?" Aberlie asked.

"He should be perfectly fine," June said. "He's a bit on the skinny side, what kind of food do you feed him?"

Elena immediately missed Damon when he stood. "He's a rescue horse," he said. "I've been feeding him alfalfa and a bit more grain but my girlfriend has an equestrian club and one of the students fed him today."

June gave Elena a curious look, as if to ask Elena if Damon was her boyfriend. Elena immediately shook her head and mouthed the word, "friend" to her, realizing she needed to talk to her old teacher more.

"I see," Dr. Martin said. "Well, just keep an extra eye on him and maybe we can go over a better diet."

Damon nodded. "I'm also throwing out all of the old hay in the loft. No one else is going to be feeding him except me or my mother."

"I don't blame you," Elena said. "Why isn't Katherine here?"

"It doesn't matter," Damon said quickly.

—

Sometime after the vet was gone, Damon walked back into the barn. Elena hadn't left Blue Moon's side since they found him in pain on the ground. She sat on his grain bucket in the stall with her feet pulled up and the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

He was worried about him, but Dr. Martin made him feel a lot better when he handed him the medicine Blue needed to pass the blockage.

"Hey," Damon said softly as he entered the stall, patting Blue on the neck as he walked past him. "It's four in the morning. You should get some sleep. Mom offered to take you back to your dorm."

"Is it okay if I stay out here with him?" Elena asked. "I'll just get too worried about him if I'm back in my room by myself." Blue Moon had stopped groaning in pain and even seemed a bit curious as he pushed past Damon to sniff Elena's hair.

Damon sighed and sat down next to her. "I'll stay with you."

"Okay," Elena said softly.

"Look, about earlier—"

"I told you not to worry about it," she snapped.

Damon frowned. He wanted to say something else to her, wanted to explain himself, but decided it was for the best he leave it be.

—

"Where the hell were you?" Damon asked from his couch as Katherine strolled into his apartment the next afternoon.

She looked at him in confusion. "I went home with Elijah…then I had to do some volunteer work at the clinic. You know, 'cause I'm trying to become a nurse?"

"Blue Moon got sick last night."

"Oh no," Katherine said, her face falling. "What happened?"

"Something had him all blocked up," Damon said. "Elena found mold in his hay. Who fed him yesterday after the trail ride?"

Katherine shrugged. "I really don't know, but is he going to be okay?"

"He's fine. I just wish you hadn't run off with Elijah. You're my girlfriend, Katherine, I need you to be here for me more." He wanted to be mad at her, but instead Damon deflated and leaned back against his couch when he saw the genuine look of concern on her face for Blue Moon. "Thankfully Elena helped us find a vet. He's on laxatives and pain medicine. Mom is watching him, made me come home, otherwise I would still be over there."

Katherine sighed and sat next to him on the couch, wrapping her arms around his shoulder as she hugged him. "I'm glad Blue is okay, and I'm more glad Elena was there to help. I'm just trying to get to know Elijah better, if I'm spending too much time with him just tell me okay?"

Damon raked his hand through his hair. "I'm sorry, babe, I'm just stressed out."

Katherine kissed him. It was short, and brief, the kind of quick kiss that told him even though they were in an open relationship, she still felt comfortable having him as her boyfriend. As their lips separated, Damon realized something had happened…or rather, hadn't happened when Katherine kissed him that had happened when he'd kissed Elena. He didn't feel the jolt of electricity that surged through him when his girlfriend kissed him like he'd felt when he'd kissed Elena.

—

Damon leaned against the hood of his Camaro outside Stevenson Hall four days later as he had an ongoing debate with himself. He kept going back and forth between telling himself he was being an idiot and that he just needed to ask Katherine where she really saw their relationship going, and just saying screw it and asking Elena on a date.

He was leaning toward asking her on a date.

And he didn't want to have that conversation with Katherine any time soon. He didn't want to think how she would respond to him if he asked. He'd rather just avoid her and ask Elena to go out with him because she'd saved his horse's life by finding a vet so fast the week before.

He wasn't just sitting outside of her dorm complex because he was having an internal argument with himself, he was there to pick her up and take her to the festival that the Equestrian Team would be participating in. Katherine was already at the park where the festival was to prepare for a barrel race.

Fuck it, Damon decided. He headed toward an exit near a dumpster in Stevenson hall, slipping in easily as a student smoking a cigarette held the door half opened. Damon nodded to the guy and then headed up to Katherine and Elena's floor.

"_Damon!_" Elena squealed as soon as he opened her dorm door. He quickly shut the door behind him as he walked into her room, throwing an arm over his eyes. "Knock!"

Damon wasn't sure if he wanted to burst out laughing or to drop his arm and just keep staring. He got a very nice glimpse of Elena's bare ass as she dove for her blanket on her bed.

"Were you just dancing naked to an Avril Lavinge song?"

"Shut up," Elena said.

"I thought you were more into Godsmack," he laughed as caught the pillow she threw at his head.

"You're twenty minutes early," Elena said, her wet hair clinging to her face.

"Is this what you do after you've taken a shower? You dance around naked?"

Her face was bright red and the way she crushed her arms around her chest pushed her cleavage up. "Stop staring at me," she hissed, nervous, moving from one foot to another.

"You've got a nice ass."

"Get out!"

"Let me buy you a burger after you show Applejax," he blurted.

"What?" Elena said, a hint of insult laced in her tone. "No way. Get out of here so I can get dressed!"

"Shit, sometimes I have Foot-In-Mouth syndrome," Damon muttered as he scratched the back of his head. "Look, I really appreciate what you did for Blue Moon, and I want to make it up to you," he slowly walked up to her, brushing away some of her wet, wild hair from her face so he could see both of her beautiful brown eyes. "You were our heroine—he's much better after Dr. Marsh started treating him. _Let me_ make it up to you by getting you a burger after you jump Applejax."

Elena protectively pulled her blanket tighter as she looked up at him. "You're not going to leave until I say yes, are you?"

"No way in hell."

Elena rolled her eyes. "_Okay._ Get me a burger after I jump Applejax. Maybe we can go see Blue after we eat."

Damon grinned widely at her. "Awesome."

Elena rolled her eyes again and smiled shyly at him. "Will you please leave already so I can get dressed?"

—

Elena had butterflies in her stomach.

Any moment she had to go out there to run Applejax around an obstacle course and she was nervous, but the butterflies in her stomach could also be because she was nervous about what would be happening after. Damon had sort of asked her on a date. The problem was she wanted to kiss him so bad she couldn't stand it. She'd seen the look he'd given her just before she dashed for her blanket when he walked in on her naked and that had done all sorts of things to her. She almost considered backing out of showing Applejax because of it.

"Don't look so frightened," Katherine said.

"I'm not frightened, just nervous that almost a hundred people are about to see me fall on my ass if I do something stupid," Elena said.

Katherine laughed at her and double checked Applejax's saddle. "Applejax is a safe horse, and I saw you practicing earlier. You'll be fine. You're meant to ride horses, Elena."

"Are you sure you'll still be saying that when I fall on my ass?"

"I'm still convinced you'd be a damn good barrel racer. _Thank you_, by the way, for finding that vet for Blue Moon."

"Everyone keeps thanking me for that," Elena said. "I just love Blue Moon. I don't think I could have handled it if something bad happened to him."

"I know Damon is getting you a burger after you show Applejax," Katherine said.

"You do, huh?" Elena asked nervously. "It's just a couple of friends getting burgers. Nothing more than that."

"I stashed some of his favorite beer in the barn," Katherine said with a smirk. "In the hay loft."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Elena squeaked.

"You don't have to act like you aren't attracted to him around me," Katherine said with an arched eyebrow. "He's _very _grateful you helped take care of Blue Moon."

Elena jumped when she heard her name called over a microphone. "Crap. I need to get out there. Look, I'm not sleeping with your boyfriend, Katherine."

Katherine laughed and rolled her eyes. "Don't be silly. The beer is just there for you guys to let loose and talk a little if you want it. Break a leg out there on that jumping course."

—

Katherine nudged Damon's shoulder as he watched Elena take her second jump. "Should I be jealous? I don't think you've watched a woman on a horse like that since you met me at a thing like this."

Damon laughed at her. "No. You don't have to be jealous. She's just a really good rider."

"We need to keep working on her to barrel race," Katherine said, snaking her arm through his as they leaned against the fence, keeping the audience and jumping course separate. Elena took the third jump perfectly. "Though I gotta admit, Applejax is a perfect fit for her."

"He wouldn't take the barrels like Rhiannon though," Damon said. "He's never been trained for it."

"Well, when we're sure Blue Moon is better, maybe you'll have to put her on him."

"I'll think about it," Damon said. He trusted Elena with Blue Moon without a doubt. She'd even helped him get rid of all the old hay—it looked like just that bale had gone bad and one other horse had been given it but hadn't touched it. "You'll understand if I don't exactly want to let anyone ride my horse right now."

"I know, handsome," Katherine said. "She's really pretty, isn't she?"

"Yeah," Damon said, answering before he could really think about it.

Katherine smirked at him. "You're smitten. I should be jealous."

"Don't be ridiculous," Damon said as he rolled his eyes at her. "I'm allowed to appreciate a beautiful girl who loves horses, aren't I? You're my girl." He leaned down and gave her a quick peck on the mouth.

"You _are _allowed to appreciate a beautiful girl on a horse," Katherine said. "I feel a little guilty that I'm dating two other men and you haven't really paid much attention to any other women except my roommate."

"I would just feel like a womanizer if I did that," Damon said. "I don't need a harem of women."

Katherine laughed out loud. "There was a time when I would have called Bullshit on that." They watched Elena take another jump. Damon knew she'd been nervous about it, but her worries had been for nothing. "I'm not asking you to take on another girlfriend, I just want you to date so I don't feel like I'm taking advantage of your willingness to be so easy going in our relationship. Besides, I know you kissed her when she told you she found a vet."

"Is it against the law to strangle your mother for gossiping?" Damon asked.

Katherine laughed again. "We both know Aberlie doesn't like me. It's fine, honey. It actually explained why she spent most of the last few days acting really shy whenever I mentioned you."

—

"I'm so hungry," Elena said as she and Damon sat down near a tree amongst a crowd of festival goers. "I forgot how much of an appetite I can work up after jumping a horse."

"You did awesome. It was really impressive you only knocked down one pole," Damon said as handed a burger to Elena. "Are you sure the last time you rode was when you were sixteen?"

Elena winced. "Yeah… at least I didn't fall on my ass. I was much more afraid of that," she said, unwrapping her food and then taking a bite. She actually moaned and closed her eyes as she chewed her food. After she swallowed, she saw Damon watching her. "What?" she asked, wiping her mouth nervously. Did she have ketchup on her face, she wondered?

"Never knew a girl who enjoyed bacon and cheese on a burger so much," he said, shrugging, as he unwrapped his own burger.

"Ugh, I've noticed Katherine loves her salads," Elena said. "She actually turned her nose up at me when I ate Nutella on toast this morning."

Damon laughed at that. "It's refreshing to be around a girl who eats like a normal person."

Elena set her burger on her knee and picked up something from her purse. "You know," she said as she looked at the small, plush horse, "you didn't have to beat an eight year old to get me a stuffed animal."

Damon shrugged. "What's a fun night out at something like this if you don't waist a few bucks trying to win something for your date?"

"Is that really what this is?" Elena asked, trying to ignore her racing heart. "A date?"

"Why not?" Damon asked. He slowly scooted next to her, bumped her shoulder with his. He watched her bite her lip and he chuckled. "You're so shy it's adorable."

"It's just weird because my roommate is your girlfriend," Elena said as she looked down at the stuffed horse. It looked a little bit like Epona with a brown coloring. She loved it just because Damon had won it for her. She set it back down and looked at him. "I don't exactly know how to date a guy who is already in a relationship."

"All right," Damon said. He set his own burger down and reached for one of her hands. "I don't want to put any pressure on you and I don't want to sound like an asshole, but I'm not trying to—how about we just forget about Katherine?"

He didn't have to say it, but Elena could hear the unspoken 'she doesn't have that problem when she's with Elijah or Stefan' as she laced her fingers with his.

"Okay, I'll try to," Elena said.

"_Yes_," Damon hissed, with a small fist pump that made Elena giggle at him. "Besides, this is just the thank-you-for-saving-my-horse's-life date. I have yet to take you on the real thing."

Elena let him hold her hand as she reached for her burger with the other. "What makes you think I'll go out with you again?" she asked, deciding to tease him some more.

"Hmm… probably because you think I'm sexy," he said.

Elena scoffed, rolling her eyes…even though she knew he was right.

—

"So he really is doing fine? What did Dr. Marsh say?"

Damon almost thought Elena was more excited to see Blue Moon than she was to be on a date with him, but she also hadn't seen him for a few days since she had been busy practicing jumping with Applejax. She didn't protest when he took her hand again as they walked into the barn.

"I've got a special diet he's on now that I'll show you later," Damon said as they walked to Blue's stall. The horse in question already had his head poking through the door as he looked at them, ears forward, as if he was excited to see them.

"Hey sweetheart," Elena cooed as she let go of Damon's hand so she could pat Blue Moon's nose. He sniffed her hand and even craned his neck so he could sniff around her jean pockets, like he was looking for a treat. "Aww, I'm sorry, I don't have any sugar or carrots."

"He doesn't need any of that crap right now," Damon sighed as he reached for Blue to scratch his neck. Blue Moon huffed at them both and pulled his head back, going back into his stall.

"I just won't ever forget how terrified I was when I saw him lying down," Elena said.

Damon debated with himself five seconds before he slid his hand across the bottom of Elena's shirt, skimming the edge of the back of her jeans as he pulled her a little closer against him so that her back was up against his front. Elena took a sharp intake of breath but she didn't push him away.

"What are you doing?" she asked nervously.

"I'm showing you how thankful I am you found a vet for my horse," he said into her hair, his lips skimming the outer shell of her ear as he pulled back some of her hair.

Elena turned around but Damon didn't let her leave his arms. "Do you have to do it like that?"

Their lips almost touching, Damon asked, "Do you have a problem with it?"

Elena shook her head, surprising him, and herself, when she reached up and kissed him.

Damon was gone.

He kissed her back, not willing to dwell on what might happen if she came to her senses and decided kissing him was wrong. Her tongue darted into his mouth as she deepened the kiss and he realized he was worrying about her pulling away from him for no reason as he kissed her back.

"You don't plan on denying that just happened, are you?" Damon asked when he pulled away from her. "I'd be pretty bummed."

Elena shook her head. "I've wanted to kiss you back for four days now." She reached up, skimmed her thumb across his cheek, giving him a small smile. "Apparently there's some beer in the hayloft."

Damon didn't need her to tell him twice as he led her to the wooden ladder built into the wall of the barn. He spun her around, kissing her again as soon as they made their way into a small area where there weren't as many hay bales. It was lit by the soft glow of the overhead lights they left on in the barn at night for the horses. Katherine had to have put that beer there, and Damon made a mental note to thank her later, but for now he wanted to put all his focus on the beautiful girl who was kissing him back.

"I don't really need a beer," Damon said after a few seconds.

"Me either," Elena said as he pinned her against a wall of stacked hay bales. She hesitated for a moment before slipping her tee-shirt over her head. She wore a white tank top underneath.

"What are we doing?" Damon asked, feeling himself harden when she pulled his hips closer to his.

"Not thinking. I don't want to think. I'm attracted to you and—"

Damon cut her off by kissing her. She didn't want to think? No problem, he thought, as he slid his left hand up her side, testing her to see what she would really let him do as he slid that same hand back down her side and underneath her shirt. Her breasts were soft, and warm, and she gasped as he started to run a trail of kisses down her neck. Loose hay shuffled around as she pushed his hips back just a little bit and reached down for the fly of his pants.

"You're really intent on this not thinking thing, aren't you?" Damon said, pulling his hand from Elena's shirt. He decided to test her further by tugging her tank top off, and she let him.

"I'm in college? Right? I might as well just go with it."

"Mm…" Damon said, reaching behind her back to unsnap her bra. "I'm not opposed to helping you experiment in college."

"Just…" Elena said nervously, "Shut up, and kiss me." She helped him get her bra off. "Before I change my mind."

Damon had no issue with doing as she asked, kissing her again without hesitation. Her hands reached into his pants to touch his hard on.

"Wait," he gasped. He groaned when her hand left his pants.

"What—?"

"You should lie down, get more comfortable."

"Oh," she said, giggling nervously as she slid down to the ground. Damon took his shirt and jeans off and went with her, tucking his shirt under her head. His right hand going right back to a perfect breast as he used his mouth on the other.

Elena moaned, hay bending and flattening as they made themselves more comfortable on the floor. Damon pried his mouth away from her breasts long enough to sit up so he could open her jeans. She wiggled her butt as she helped him get her out of them. Damon didn't pay attention to where he threw them as he skimmed his index finger along the hem of her underwear. Hovering over her, he leaned back down to trail kisses up her torso, then to her neck, then he kissed her on the mouth as his hand made its way into her underwear.

"Mm, you're so wet," he said, his hand grazing over her clit. He kissed her again and she gasped into his mouth.

"Don't tease me," she said, pulling back just a moment to glare at him playfully.

She was just a little bossy and it was such a turn on for him as he listened to her, sitting up again so he could pull his boxers off, feeling like he'd lost the ability to think clearly when she spread her legs for him as his penis sprang free.

"Are you a—"

Elena rolled her eyes as she raised her hips just slightly, pulling him down toward her while she wrapped her legs around his hips loosely. "Don't ask me that or it won't happen."

He didn't say another word as he kissed her again and he entered her before either one of them could second guess what they were doing. Damon reached behind to adjust one of her legs as he gave her a second to adjust—she was so damn tight—and then he started to move.

—

"Katherine," Damon said in surprise the next morning. She had Rhiannon out of her stall, tied to a post near the hayloft ladder as she bent over Rhiannon's left foot with a hoof pick, scraping out dirt.

Katherine let her horse's hoof go. "You _totally _spent the night in the barn, didn't you?"

Damon didn't answer her, rolling his eyes as he placed a hand on Rhiannon's backside as he walked around her. "I didn't think you'd be here so early."

"No way," Katherine said, grinning at him as she reached up and pulled a bit of hay from his hair. "You spent the night here and you're going to tell me about it. Date went really well with Elena, didn't it?"

"That, dear," Damon said, pulling her to him, "is none of your business."

"Oh," Elena said, causing Damon to pull away from Katherine as if her lips were hot coals. Elena looked around nervously before she climbed down from the hayloft, where she bent down to pick up a tennis shoe that had fallen down the night before. She hugged herself after she awkwardly shoved her foot into the shoe. "Good morning, Katherine."

"Morning," Katherine said with a smirk as Elena awkwardly walked around the three of them. "Have fun?"

Damon noticed they were still holding his hand, and he dropped it immediately when Elena's eyes darted to them.

"I'd, um, stay around but Caroline is picking me up."

"_Shit,_" Damon groaned as she quickly left the barn, and worst of all, him.

—

Holy fuck, this chapter was a long one.

Haha, I'm sure you guys don't mind that though. :) I personally think I am rusty as hell at writing sex (that's why All This Time was rated T) but, you know, moving into romance genre writing, those are kind of important.

I love all of you for reading, reviewing, favoriting, and alerting (keep it up! I love hearing from you guys). This MIGHT be the last chapter I post for a month and a half since I'm going to be writing for National Novel Writing Month. Not even gonna work on _Cheap Guitars_. The reason I'm doing this—I wrote well over 50,000 words together between HOH and CG—is that you're not allowed to edit during NaNo and whenever I work on either one of my fics I edit like crazy and send them to pre-readers and beta readers and end up deleting whole pages. I do not want to be tempted to do that when I'm writing next month. Just Google NaNoWriMo if you've never heard of it. I _might _post the new story while I'm writing it, but it won't be edited at _all _and if Kate thought some of my run on sentences were bad before…well… *bursts into cackles*

The not working on a new chapter yet isn't definite but I _do_ need to sit down with Scrivener and plan out the new story. I've already wasted most of October changing my mind three million times (okay, actually just three) about what I'd be working on this year.

All right. I am actually half asleep and have to work seven hours starting at noon. Don't forget to review :P

Oh! And who is _loving _season 5 so far? I'm a little put out because characters with "mara" in their name keep getting killed off (there was a Mara in Sleepy Hollow) but other than that I think it's awesome. Gag me with the Stefan/Elena fated to be lovers bullshit but I melted and swooned over Damon calling Elena his life. Gah, anyway, 'til the next update :P


	8. Chapter Seven

Thanks to Kate for the beta!

So sorry I didn't send this to you to pre-read, Cher, but this is seriously the last chapter I'm putting up for a week and one month (more detailed author notes below).

Chapter Seven

"Hmm," Katherine mused as she watched Elena leave the barn. "Maybe I shouldn't have come so early to take care of Rhiannon."

Damon frowned at Katherine, wondering why she had to show up that morning. Never mind the fact that he realized she was the one who left beer for them in the loft the night before, but he was starting to wonder if his girlfriend had an ulterior motive for wanting him to sleep with Elena.

"Oh don't look at me like that." Katherine rolled her eyes. "Did you both have fun?"

"I thought one of our rules was we don't talk to each other about the people we've slept with," Damon said.

"So you _did _sleep with her?" Damon scowled, and this made Katherine smirk at him. "Good."

"What do you mean, 'good'?" Damon asked, feeling incredulous as he stared at his girlfriend.

"I just mean 'good,' in that you finally went ahead and stopped dancing around your attraction to my roommate," Katherine said with a shrug. "Though I don't think she was too happy about seeing us together."

Damon regretted Elena seeing him with Katherine right after he'd spent the night with her. He hadn't wanted her to leave yet but there was nothing he could really do about it. She had hopped into Caroline's car so fast he hadn't had a chance to stop her, but what could he really do about it? Elena knew he was in a relationship with Katherine although he supposed he could have been more sensitive. He wondered if she regretted sleeping with him now.

"I'm just glad you finally did," Katherine said, "because I actually want to talk."

"What's wrong?" Whenever a woman wanted to talk, Damon learned, it wasn't a good thing. His mother often used those words with his father whenever he was in trouble over something. Thankfully he and Katherine weren't living together, because Damon felt conditioned to think "talks" with girlfriends or wives were a sure-fire way to end up sleeping on the couch. "Don't tell me you're actually fucking jealous that I went ahead and _did _what you kept hounding me to do by having sex with Elena."

Katherine gave him a wide, knowing smile. "Ha! I knew it… but no, that's not what it's about." She grinned at him, reaching up to brush some more stray pieces of hay from his hair. "It's nothing bad. I was just thinking about redefining the lines of our open relationship."

"What is there to redefine?" Damon asked. "I thought what we're doing is good."

"Oh, of course it has been," Katherine said, "but I saw the look on your face when Elena left. You _really _like her."

"You don't have to worry about me leaving you if that's what you're worried about, baby," Damon said. He wondered where all of this was suddenly coming from and if Katherine was just acting amused to hide the fact that she was insanely jealous.

"But would you_ date_ her? If I said that it was okay?"

"Cut the bullshit, Kat what is this really about?" Damon asked.

"Well…" Katherine said, looking up at him.

Her brown eyes were wide, but nowhere near as pretty as Elena's. The thought that his girlfriend was nowhere near as pretty as Elena stunned Damon even though he'd been thinking that more and more the past few weeks.

"What if we actually started dating other people?"

"No way in hell," Damon said automatically. "I said I didn't want to date people when we made our relationship open, and you agreed. I don't think that should change at all."

"Do _not _tell me after the way I saw you look all hurt by the way Elena rushed out of here that you don't want to date her."

"Are you asking me if we should break up?"

Katherine pulled away from him and glared, crossing her arms over her chest. Damon eyes, of their own violation, wondered down to her breasts before she let out a shriek of frustration and smacked him on the shoulder.

"If you'd listen to me and stopped thinking with your third leg then you might actually understand what I'm asking you to think about doing, Damon," she said with a frustrated huff.

Damon didn't like where this was going, at all, but he decided to keep his mouth shut and didn't say anything.

"Okay. Good. I just want to be free to date Elijah more. I don't want any hard feelings to come between any of us. Please don't lie to me and say you haven't thought about actually dating Elena?"

"…She's a sweet girl," Damon said, looking up at the barn's ceiling. "I really enjoy spending time with her. I got to really know her last night and I learned she really isn't all that experienced when it comes to dating men."

It was true. Damon and Elena hadn't _just _had sex even though he'd lost himself in her most of the night. She'd told him that was the longest a man had ever paid attention to her and that while she'd had a boyfriend, most of their dates just consisted of going to a place called The Mystic Grill in Mystic Falls and that he'd never really taken her anywhere else. Damon told Elena he wanted to take her on a real date, but he realized the rules he had with Katherine wouldn't really allow him to do that.

"Exactly," Katherine said. "I think we should be able to date as much as we want to. I promise I'm not trying to move on or break up with you. I just want to get to know Elijah more and I think you want to do the same thing with Elena."

After Elena saw him kissing Katherine after he slept with her, Damon wasn't quite sure what she was thinking, but he had to admit to himself the thought of being able to freely date her didn't seem like a bad idea. Katherine had always been open minded—sometimes _too _open minded—when it came to the flexibility of their relationship and this was just another one of those times.

"I'll think about it," Damon said.

Katherine actually giggled at him. "I'm sure when you see Elena again you'll change your mind…" She ran her hand across his shoulder, smoothing out his tee-shirt. "Did you have fun at least?"

Damon sighed. "That's another one of our rules babe. We don't talk about sex with other people."

* * *

Elena took deep, calming breaths as she combed into Caroline's car.

What did she expect when she gave into her stupid desire to sleep with Damon Salvatore? He had a girlfriend. Neither one of them really liked to flaunt what they did with other people but Katherine was still Damon's girlfriend and so Elena felt stupid for the tight feeling which had wrapped itself around her heart when she saw him kissing her.

"Did your date go okay with Damon?" Caroline asked casually as she pulled the car onto the main road, looking at Elena through her rearview mirror.

"Wait a minute," Bonnie said. "You went on a date with Damon last night and I didn't know about it?" She turned around in the passenger seat to look at Elena with a frown. "Oh honey… Tell me you didn't."

"Is it really such a bad thing that I spent time with him and let him get me a burger after the horse show?"

Obviously, Bonnie and Caroline hadn't been able to make it to the festival. Caroline had talked Bonnie into rushing for a sorority—Elena didn't remember which one—and she had been too nervous to beg them to come watch her jump Applejax anyway. Elena hadn't told Bonnie what she was doing the night before because of the very judgmental look her friend was giving her.

"Judging from the huge amount of hay sticking up in that rat's nest you call hair," Caroline said, "I'm guessing you did more than just go on a date with him."

Elena knew she was blushing bright red when Bonnie gasped.

"Elena!" she cried. "He's got a girlfriend!"

"Correction," Caroline said. "He's got an open relationship girlfriend and he's hot. Please tell me the sex was _awesome_."

Bonnie reached over and smacked Caroline's shoulder so hard she rubbed it when she pulled it back after Caroline's cry of, _"Ow!_"

"What the hell was that for?" Caroline demanded.

"I told you not to encourage her to go out with him, or to sleep with him!"

"She didn't, Bonnie," Elena said. "I just… I just really like him." Even though she wasn't crying yet she wiped her eyes anyway. "He's a great guy."

"Oh no… you regret it, don't you?" Caroline said. "Don't regret it. No way."

"I shouldn't have done it," Elena said.

"You definitely shouldn't have," Bonnie agreed. "How can he be such a great guy if he can sleep with you one night and then wake up in the morning and kiss his _girlfriend _when you're there right in front of him?"

"Don't you _dare _make her feel bad about this," Caroline said, glaring at Bonnie. The car swerved just a little bit.

"Pay attention to the road!" Elena shrieked, frantically tapping her friend on the shoulder.

Caroline quickly corrected the car and both Bonnie and Elena sighed in relief.

Did she regret sleeping with Damon?

Bonnie and Caroline were quiet for a few minutes while she thought about it. Bonnie then twisted around in the front seat so she could look at her. Elena wished she would turn around. She had sympathy and judgment written all over her face and in all honesty that was the last thing Elena needed, but at the same time she really wondered if she should have given into sleeping with Damon so fast. He'd tried to give her an out, even almost asked if she was a virgin. Elena wasn't. She'd just never been with a man as experienced as he was.

"Fuck," Elena said, fighting the urge to sob, her head sinking onto the back of the front seat, "I shouldn't have slept with him."

"Oh, sweetheart," Bonnie said, immediately grabbing her hand.

Caroline huffed in the front seat. "Don't be ridiculous. I bet he had a big one. Did he?"

"I don't think it would bother me so bad if I hadn't come down from the hayloft and seen him with Katherine," Elena said. "They were kissing."

"So?" Caroline said. "Ask him not to do that next time."

"I can't exactly do that," Elena frowned. "She's his girlfriend."

"I think you need to take a step away from Damon and Katherine for a while," Bonnie said. "You're going to get really hurt, and I don't want to see that happen."

Caroline scoffed. "Elena, you knew he was in a relationship when you went on a date with him, and you knew about it still when you slept with him. You're in college. Have _fun_."

Damn. She felt the first few tears splash down her cheeks as she kept her forehead pressed to the seat. "It's really easy for you to tell me I need to have fun, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah," Caroline said. "Why shouldn't you have fun? You don't have a boyfriend, you're a freshman in college, and you're on your own for the first time. That's what the college experience is all about, honey."

"What am I supposed to do since I'm developing feelings for him then?" Elena said, looking up at her friends, trying her hardest not to sob.

"Okay, are these like, 'falling-in-love' with him feelings or 'my-god-fuck-me!' feelings?" Caroline asked hesitantly after a few seconds.

"Do you have to be so crude?" Bonnie sounded a bit scandalized.

"I… I can't fall in love with Damon, guys. He's got a girlfriend, and he's older, and—okay—he was really great in the hayloft, but I'm just… I don't know. I seriously don't know." Elena let out a frustrated sigh as she flung herself back onto the seat and furiously wiped away the stubborn tears that wouldn't stop falling. "I feel stupid," she said. "I'm a stupid, stupid, stupid female and I shouldn't have slept with him and now it's going to be _so _awkward next time I see Katherine."

"You're not stupid," Caroline said. "Wow. I didn't think you'd get feelings for him."

"What did you think would happen?" Bonnie hissed at her. "I really think you need to take a step back from him, honey."

"I can't do that," Elena said. "I'm in the equestrian club and Katherine is my roommate."

"You can stay with me in my dorm for a few days, sound good? We can turn our phones off and have a TV show marathon. Your pick."

"I think it's a stupid idea to avoid him," Caroline said. "But I'm down for a Boy Meets World marathon. I'll even get us a big load of chocolate."

"I love you, girls," Elena said.

* * *

"Okay man, what's wrong?" Alaric asked as he walked into Damon's apartment with a bottle of bourbon and two pizzas from Dominos.

"I didn't tell you anything was wrong, did I?" Damon snorted from his couch. _Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas _was playing from Netflix. It was the very beginning of the movie, when Johnny Depp was having a hallucination about Bat Country. Damon had already been drinking a little and was out of the last of his beer when he called Alaric and asked him to come. Katherine was god-knows-where and Damon realized he didn't quite care. He had his phone in his hand, debating on if he wanted to send a text to Elena or not.

"You have that same look on your face Stefan gets when he's brooding," Stefan said.

"Fuck you, I do not brood like my brother," Damon said.

Alaric snorted in laughter. "Have any glasses for this?"

Damon merely grabbed the bourbon bottle, opened it, and took a large swig.

"All right, dick," Alaric said. "There is something wrong and you're not telling me what it is."

"I slept with Elena."

"I'm going to need that bottle back if we're going to girl talk."

Damon scowled at him before taking another drink of the bourbon. He stood, handing the bottle to Alaric then walked to the kitchen. Alaric snorted at something on the TV from the living room as Damon rifled around in his cabinets to find two glasses.

"You were the one who told me I should take advantage of Katherine's willingness to be in an open relationship, so yeah, I did. Elena is…" Damon trailed off as he tried to think of a way to describe his girlfriend's roommate, the alcohol in his system preventing him from quite finding the words he wanted to use to describe her. "I figured I'd take her out once more, maybe get it out of my system, but then Katherine drops a bomb on me that she wants to start dating other people."

"Well," Alaric said. "I hate to say it, but do you really think Katherine would be asking that if she still cared about you?"

"Katherine and I love each other," Damon said, "but after what happened with Elena I'm a little relieved she asked if we could date other people. I'm just worried I pushed Elena too far or something."

Alaric snorted, ignoring the glass Damon down for him on the coffee table in favor of drinking straight from the bottle. "I'm a little jealous you're getting with two women, but I think I'm going to stay out of it this time, brother."

* * *

"Katherine!" Elena said, sitting up in her bed, quickly grabbing the remote to mute _Grey's Anatomy_ when her roommate walked into their dorm room_._ "I thought you were spending the night with Damon."

It had been a week since Elena saw him, since they'd slept together. Damon tried texting her a few times but due to Bonnie's insistence that she try to take a step back from the entire situation Elena hadn't jumped to send him a text back as she usually would with other friends. She felt bad because Damon didn't do anything wrong. She was just being stupid, or at least she convinced herself she was being stupid and that she shouldn't be upset over what she saw that next morning because Damon was Katherine's boyfriend, not hers.

Bonnie was right. Elena had needed that break from Katherine and Damon. She'd spent the week spending nights with Bonnie and commuting back and forth with Caroline—when she spent the night at home, she got to drive her car and it felt wonderful even though Jeremy griped about her taking it back—and she had as little contact with Katherine and Damon as possible, except for a few hours ago when she finally decided she needed to come back to the dorm because she couldn't avoid her roommate forever.

"I changed my mind," Katherine said, giving her a strange look. "I thought we could have some roommate girl bonding time. Hope you're into sesame chicken and crab rangoon because I ordered a bunch of it."

"I'm shocked," Elena said, throwing her covers off her leg. "You're actually eating something that sounds normal?"

Katherine smirked at her as she handed her a bag of crab rangoon and a white container with red sauce. "You keep making fun of me for watching what I eat but when you gain that freshman fifteen I don't want to hear a word about it because I know you secretly guzzle down Pepsi when no one is looking. I've seen the crushed cans shoved down in the trash can."

Elena smiled at Katherine awkwardly, unsure about what else she really could say to her after not seeing her for a week.

"So are you okay?" Katherine said.

"What makes you ask that?" Elena froze after she sat on her bed, mid-ripping into the bag of crab rangoon.

"I hope I didn't make things really awkward the next morning in the barn between you and Damon," Katherine said. "You haven't been back to the dorm all week either." Katherine walked over with the bag of food and plopped down next to Elena.

"I just got busy," Elena said quickly, internally rolling her eyes at herself because she couldn't let Katherine know she had feelings for Damon and _that _was why she decided to take a step back from them for a week, trying to think of a good excuse, why she hadn't been back to the dorm for so long. "Our home town has a lot of silly gatherings and balls and charities they do every time around this time of year and Caroline is demanding and insisted I go home and help her with it. It was nice being home since I got to drive my car."

"I bet," Katherine said. "My offer to let you drive mine still stands. What's the fun in living with an upperclassman if you don't steal my keys on occasion?"

"I don't want to do that," Elena said. "I'd be afraid I would parallel park wrong or something—I suck at that, by the way—and that it would get hit or something."

Elena's mouth watered when Katherine opened a steaming container of seasame chicken and motioned for her to scoot over before she handed it to her. "Wanna know a secret? I suck at parallel parking too."

Elena giggled. "Why can't we just use horses as a mode of transportation anymore?"

"I know right?" Katherine said. "Sometimes I wish I was born in the civil war era, when we would have had to depend on horses. Damon makes fun of me for loving _Gone With the Wind _but I've gotten him to dress like Rhett for Halloween before."

Elena tried to imagine Damon dressed as Rhett Butler and her face immediately flushed red. She looked down, trying to hide the blush with her hair, but Katherine grinned at her.

"He's so good in the sack, isn't he?"

"Katherine!" Elena yelped out of embarrassment. "It's bad enough I slept with your boyfriend. I'm _so _not giving you details."

"I don't want thinks to be awkward between us," Katherine said. "Please don't lie to me and tell me you avoided us because you were busy all week."

Elena sighed. "I just—don't worry. Things between us are okay." She might as well be honest with her roommate, right? "Bonnie kinda told me I should take a breather for a while so I did."

"Damon is an_ amazing_ guy," Katherine said. "Not just in bed. He's one of my best friends. I think one of the reasons it's so easy to be with him is that he's so understanding and we never ever fight. He didn't even fight me when I told him I wanted to test the waters of dating other people."

"Dating?" Elena asked, curiosity getting the better of her. "I don't really know how your whole open relationship with Damon works."

"Well," Katherine said, pausing mid-stab of a piece of chicken, "it's kinda like—"

"I don't need to know, either. But you're dating other people?"

"Don't act so surprised," Katherine said. "I'm glad you guys are getting along with each other so well because I didn't feel so awful when I asked him if we could date other people. I really like Elijah, and he wants me to date him, so I kept trying to find a way to ask Damon about us dating other people and I couldn't. It was different, before, we were only just having sex with other people and while I _really _love sex with Elijah, Damon, and Stefan, sometimes a girl just has to be wined and dined sometimes and Damon and I can't always find time to spend together."

Elena didn't know what to say to Katherine after little revelation, but it told her so much about her roommate. Were these guys just play things to her, or did she actually care about all three of them? She'd confirmed she slept with Stefan—how could Damon be okay with that? Elena hadn't really talked to Stefan that much, she thought he was a good guy, but wasn't there some kind of unwritten rule where a girl doesn't go for a set of brothers and all that? How was Damon okay with it?

Elena huffed and rolled her eyes at herself as she picked up a piece of broccoli and bit it. She shouldn't let herself get so involved in the fact that Katherine was sleeping with two other men when she had a boyfriend, but she couldn't help but get sucked into the story of it.

"Anyway, Elijah likes to actually go out and have more fun, unlike Damon and Stefan, so I figured what the hell? The two of us should date other people. I don't want to make you feel awkward saying this, but I love Damon though I just think he's busy a lot with the horses and sometimes I feel like that overshadows me as his girlfriend."

"Oh… do you think it's because you're in college and he's not?" Elena asked.

"Yeah. Maybe." Katherine shrugged as she pushed a few of her curls behind her ears. "I love being with Elijah and Stefan though sometimes. Us dating other people benefits you, you know."

"I don't know about that," Elena said.

"Why not?" Katherine asked, bumping shoulders with Elena. "Damon really likes you… I mean, he _really _likes you."

Elena sighed again. "I just—this is a little weird talking to you about this."

"Are you worried you'll get feelings for him?"

"Yep," Elena said, grabbing the remote and turning it up a little. Meredith's black panties had just been pinned on the board. "We're not having this conversation."

Katherine grabbed the remote and turned it down. "Okay. We don't have to have _that _conversation," she said. "Did he do that awesome thing with his fingers to you?"

Elena turned bright red. "Where he—"

"Yeah."

"_God, _yes," Elena finally said, giving into the urge to talk about one of the best nights of sex she'd ever had. Realizing what she did, she turned bright red and choked on a bit of food. While Katherine snorted in laughter and slapped her back, Elena decided talking to Katherine about sex with Damon was _maybe _okay.

* * *

"I haven't seen Elena, and she's not answering my texts" Damon said to Katherine as she walked up to him with a western saddle. "Is she all right?"

Katherine smiled at him. "She's just been busy, sweetie. I'm actually going to a frat party with her tonight."

Blue Moon pushed Damon back, sniffing his pockets, looking for something. Damon laughed at him and pushed him back as he brushed some of the horse's forelock out of his eyes. "Which one?"

"The honor's fraternity."

"Jesus Christ, Katherine, no."

Katherine looked at him in surprise. "Why shouldn't we go? She wants to drink a little and I'm not going to let her go alone. She was bummed out because Bonnie and Caroline had to bail out on her."

"I might not be in that college but I've heard the stories about it," Damon said. "I've heard some bad stories about things that have happened to girls at one of those things."

"I promise," Katherine said with a laugh. "I'll keep an eye on her. Stefan is going too I think."

"Watch her," Damon said, staring directly at her.

Katherine rolled her eyes as she picked a hay bale and started walking toward the direction of Rhiannon's stall.

"Do you think I might be able to talk to her if I show up?" he asked hesitantly a few seconds later.

"I'm sure you will be able to, babe, if you can find her in a crowd of a bunch of drunk college students."

Damon laughed at her, beginning to follow. "Elena would be easy to pick out anywhere," he said.

Katherine smiled at him. "Just be careful and use a condom, that's all I ask."

Damon froze in his spot as he suddenly realized he couldn't remember if he used a condom with Elena the week before or not. _Fuck._

* * *

Elena awkwardly looked around the massive crowed of people she didn't know.

Why exactly had she decided coming to a frat party was a good idea again? Let alone going with Katherine, who she was pretty sure was in the middle of a heavy screwing fest with Stefan?

Katherine had been all for a girl's night of partying and helping Elena feel like she fit in amongst a sea of college students she had never met before. Katherine liked Greek parties, she told her, but she didn't want her to come to this one alone. She didn't tell her why. Just insisted she come. Elena hated Bonnie and Caroline right now for bailing on her, for flipping back and forth ten times before they decided they didn't want to be there if Katherine was coming. Bonnie was still on a firm "you need to stay away from Damon and Katherine!" tirade and it was starting to piss Elena off.

She missed Damon.

Okay, she _really _fucking missed Damon.

It was so hard for her not to text him back even though Katherine had been making more of an effort to spend time with her since they spent the night together on Thursday marathoning Grey's Anatomy episodes and talking about boys—they talked a _lot _about Damon—school, and Katherine vowed she was going to take Elena to her favorite shoe store in town.

Elena was a little drunk. She'd been drinking wine the entire night—what kind of frat boy it was that brought some Barefoot to a toga party Elena didn't know—but she was very happy with the Sweet Red she'd been sipping on. Unfortunately, she thought as she frowned at the bottle, someone had taken the last glass from the third bottle and there was nothing else to drink.

"Here," a cute boy who had black hair and wide brown eyes said as he held out a red cup. "I noticed you were out of wine." He was mixing it with some sort of spoon as he held it out for her. "It's not wine, but it's Peach Schnapps and Dr. Pepper and it's pretty good."

Elena raised an eyebrow at him. "That sounds disgusting."

"Oh, I know it does," he said. "But a pretty girl like you shouldn't stand here looking so lonely and I've been told it's an awesome girly drink by my sister who drinks too damn much."

Elena laughed at him, looking around, wishing she knew where Katherine was. "Um…" she said, taking the cup. "Thanks…?"

"Parker. My name is Parker."

"Parker," Elena said, smiling at him. "Thanks."

"Can I get your name?" The guy asked just as she was about to take a tentative sip.

"It's—"

"Elena," she turned quickly to the sound of the voice from the person she last expected to show up to a thing like this.

"Damon!" She said in surprise as he quickly moved towards them. "What are you—"

He stopped her just as she was about to drink because she suddenly felt like she needed a little more liquid courage if he was going to be there. He grabbed the drink from her before she could down it.

"What the hell, man?" Parker asked. "Here, I'll make you another drink—"

"I know for a fact, you little asshole," Damon said, "that you just dropped a pill in my friend's cup."

"What?" Elena asked angrily.

"Are you this chick's boyfriend?"

"Yeah, I am," Damon hissed, standing closer to her and wrapping his arms around her waist. Her skin tingled where he touched a bare part of her waist where the toga didn't quite cover her right. "Get the fuck out of here before I call the cops."

"Screw this," Parker said.

"Oh my god," Elena said. "I can't believe—"

"Are you okay?" he asked, taking her face in his hands as he looked into her pupils. "You didn't drink any of it, did you? I was talking to Katherine before I realized what was going on—"

"No, no I didn't drink it," Elena said before asking, "You saw Katherine?"

Damon's jaw tightened. "I think she thought I was just leaving to go talk to you," he said. "You're _sure _you didn't drink it?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Elena said. "God, I should have—I was mostly drinking wine." Her head span. "Okay, a_ lot _of wine. I poured it myself."

Unable to help herself, she leaned closer to Damon, enjoying the feeling of his arms wrapped around her. "Are you sure he slipped something in that drink?"

"I'm sure. I left fast—didn't get to tell Katherine what was going on…but can I get you out of here, please? I told her it wasn't a good idea to come with you."

Elena suddenly pushed away from him, remembering she was supposed to be avoiding him because Bonnie had told her he couldn't really be a good person if he could kiss his girlfriend in front of her after she had sex with him. "Screw you. I can have fun if I want to. And I can drink. You aren't actually my boyfriend. I'll make sure to stay away from Parker."

"Elena," Damon groaned, going after her, reaching for her hand. "I was hoping we could talk. Alone."

Elena snorted at him, not quite sure why she was angry at him in the first place. Suddenly she stumbled in her heels when he stopped her from walking away from him.

"Whoa," he said. "Are you sure wine was the only thing you had?"

"Okay," Elena sighed, "I poured a few shots of whiskey with Katherine when we first got here."

"Goddamn, my kind of woman," he smirked as he steadied her.

If she'd been sober, she might have secretly gotten a little giddy about that, but instead Elena just scoffed. "Okay, more than a few shots of whiskey."

"Can I please take you back to your dorm?" Damon asked again. "This party is huge and Katherine is okay with Stefan…but I don't like you being by yourself."

Elena studied him for a minute. Instead she sort of saw two Damons and his hand sent warm tingles up her arm and damn, the man could wear a pair of jeans.

"Okay," Elena shrugged drunkenly. "Take me."

Fuck. Elena was drunk, Damon thought, but he didn't mind the way she practically let him carry her back to her dorm across campus. He felt furious with Katherine—he couldn't find her on the way out of the frat party—and he was furious at that guy who tried to give her a roofied drink. He'd nearly flipped his shit and broken the guy's nose as soon as he saw Elena take it, and it was luck that he'd gotten there when he did.

"Do you have your key, Elena?" he asked as they got closer to Stevenson Hall.

"Um…" Elena said, biting her lip. "Oh! Don't need it. Girls across the hall are watching our room because we left it unlocked."

Damon was going to have to have a conversation with his girls in the morning, he thought, as he shook his head. It was not a good idea to leave their door unlocked.

"How are we going to get you past the front desk?" Damon asked, deciding not to freak out on her over not locking her door. "You're definitely not sober."

"Oh! Wait, what time is it?" Elena asked.

Damon pulled his phone out. "It's one-thirty. Does it matter?"

"Yes. You don't need to sneak me past. Tamika is _awesome_," she said, smiling brightly. "She's a night desk worker. I've seen her wave drunk students in before. Um…" She stepped away from Damon for a moment, her hair falling loosely over her shoulders as she started feeling around for something.

"Jesus, Elena," he said, walking in front of her as a male student walked past, covering her front as she reached in the toga and underneath one her left breast, protecting Elena from flashing the guy her beautiful tits. "What are you doing?"

"What?" Elena asked innocently as she produced her student ID. "Tamika's great_, _and new, and doesn't give a crap about housing rules_,_" she said, "except she won't let me take a boy to my room without a—" Damon quickly caught her arm so she didn't stumble back into a bush, "um—that thing we do that lets you be in my room."

"Without a what?" Damon chuckled at her. "Without a check-in?" He quickly helped her right herself and she huffed and rolled her eyes at him.

"Yeah! That. It's so stupid. We're adults, what do they need to know who goes in and out of our rooms for? I totally know you're copping a feel too, buster."

Damon barked a laugh as he shook his head and took her hand. "Come on, boozy, let's get you to your room."

"And what's this?" a heavyset black woman asked as Damon made Elena lean on him while he reached in his back pocket for his ID.

"Toga party!" Elena giggled, looking up at him and back at the desk worker. "He was kinda my hero, though."

Tamika raised one of her eyebrows as she reached out one of her hands for Elena's IDs. "Hero, huh? Well, he's definitely dashing, how'd he save you?"

"He _is _hot, huh?"

This is so fucking embarrassing, Damon thought, as he took the compliments from both women in stride as he pulled out his driver's license.

"Some douche bag at the honor frat's party tried slipping me something in my drink and he stopped me from drinking it," Elena whispered conspiratorially.

"What's your room number?"

Elena rattled off numbers, her words slurring together only a little.

Tamika sighed as she took both IDs, grabbed a pencil, and started to scribble something in one of the binders. "Give her a lot of water, okay?" she said to Damon as she handed him both IDs.

He had to get Tamika cookies or something, Damon thought, as he walked Elena up to her room. He hated the fact that there wasn't an actual elevator in Stevenson hall for the hundredth time. It wasn't his first taking a pretty girl up the steps of this dorm—he'd done it a few times with Katherine.

"Mm… you smell good," Elena muttered as she leaned against Damon after he finally got her into the room.

"Oh, yeah?" Damon asked, smiling as she ran her hand over hair.

"Mmhmm, like you've been working with Blue Moon all day but you've got this…I don't know, almost kinda smells like a mainly cinnamon smell or something and it's hot."

"You drank so much more than you let on, didn't you?" Damon laughed as he helped her to her bed—not an easy feat when the only light he had to see was from a flickering security light that shed very little light into her room.

"Mm, maybe," Elena said, sighing heavily before looking at him sleepily. "Bonnie was wrong. I shouldn't avoid you."

Damon froze a moment. Well, that explained a few things. Her friend had told her to avoid him? Damon tried to remember which friend Bonnie was but he hadn't seen her friends too often, so he wasn't sure who was who yet.

"Why'd she tell you to avoid me?" he asked quietly.

"I was being a stupid girl." Elena shrugged as she kicked her heels off. How she managed to actually walk in them, he wasn't sure. "I'm a really stupid girl, Damon."

"Don't say that," he said, leaning forward and brushing some of her hair out of her face. "You're not stupid. Please don't say you are."

The kiss she gave him at that was soft and sweet as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. She had some kind of cherry-flavored lip gloss on her lips that he noticed when he kissed her back.

"I don't wanna avoid you for a week again," Elena whispered when she pulled away, and flopping back onto her pillow. "I _was _stupid, 'cause I missed you."

"I missed you too," Damon answered, swallowing. "I'm not sure what it is about you, Elena…but I missed you too. It sucked when you didn't return my texts or my calls."

"I was just…" Elena sighed, her eyes slipping shut. "I'm so drunk, Damon."

"Yes. You are." He laughed and kissed her lips again. "You should get some sleep."

"Um…" Elena said, reaching for his hand when he got to his feet. "Stay with me?"

He didn't say no.

* * *

So no, Elena wasn't a virgin, but Damon certainly rocked her world that night.

I'm still attempting to get comfortable with writing smut. I'm hoping that'll happen 'cause NaNoWriMo is coming up (I'm including the title and a summary of the story below for whoever is curious) and I haven't decided if it's classic romance or new adult. Kate has effectively turned me into an angst whore, however, so it's very possible it might be new adult.

I KNOW it's going to suck that I'm not posting for a month. I published _All This Time_ on Kindle Worlds, and it's only 4 (really not that much when you think about it… that's a coffee from Star Bucks) bucks if you want a copy of it for something to hold you over while I'm writing the new novel (if you've got questions about that of any sort, send me a PM). I've also started editing _Haunted Desperation, _a vampire novel I started in 2007 and MIGHT occasionally edit it when I feel the urge creeping up on the other story. I've posted it on Wattpad and FictionPress. This thing is my baby—Cecelia Nottingham is the best character I've ever created.

FictionPress is neat though. It's FFN's sister site, here's the link: www DOT fictionpress DOT com SLASH s/3161055/1/Haunted-Desperation You can log in with your FFN account to review it. Can't decide if I want to post the new NaNo online or not as I write it yet.

You can also creep on my favorite stories. Some awesome ones are on there, particularly Taaroko's _Off by a Single Degree_. If you're a _Buffy _fan, I wrote a short story for the IWRY (I Will Remember You—the episode in Angel when he got turned human for a day) and should be posting that sometime in November. IWRY is live journal challenge, or something, that they do every year. Taaroko could probably explain it better, she's written one too, and it kicked ass.

Anyway, I love you guys, and thank you so much for reviewing, alerting, and favoriting. Please don't hesitate to leave one on this chapter.

NaNoWriMo 2013 (if you happen to be participating in NaNo, let me know and I'll tell you my name on there. And just a little info on NaNo: it stands for National Novel Writing Month, every November hundreds of thousands of writers buckle down and race to meet a 50,000 word count by November 30th. I jokingly call it the time I spend too much money on wine and I'm aiming for 80,000 this year.)—

_Without a Stitch (_yeah, writing in 1st, needed a break from 3rd person.)

I got pregnant when I was seventeen but I wouldn't have changed it for a world because I love my kids. My husband is a trucker—was—a trucker. He's been in a coma and I know I can't leave him like that, but his damnable mother won't let any of us move on.

I'm a little stuck. I have three kids to raise, a mortgage to pay, and Keith isn't around to help me anymore. I want to go to college, but I refuse to take out student loans and haven't ever worked. I've resorted house cleaning because anyone can clean house, right?

Except…I usually don't wear anything.


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